A Thai owner of a pet lion cub has landed in trouble after her friend took the big cat for a ride in his convertible Bentley. The footage from Pattaya showed the lion cub sitting in the back seat of the luxury car. The video also sparked a discussion on animal cruelty and endangering public safety, South China Morning Post reported.
According to The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Sawangjit Kosoongnern was legally allowed to keep the lion in Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok. She had sought permission to transfer the pet to Chonburi province but had not received approval yet.
“Therefore, Sawangjit did violate laws concerning the taking of a wild animal out in public and moving its location without prior permission,” said Atthaphon Charoenchansa, the department’s chief.
The video was originally shared on Facebook and showed a man driving around in the Bentley with the lion cub as onlookers appeared baffled. The big cat also had a collar around its neck. It dated to December 2023 and later made its way across other social media platforms as well. As per reports, the cub appeared to be four to five months old.
Viral video of the day:A person - probably from Bangladesh - chauffeurs a four-month-old lion through the middle of Pattaya in a rented Bentley convertible.
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How sick is this?
Keeping a lion as a pet is cruel!Vid. cr.: Pierre-Alexandre / T-Tok
8 December 2023#Pattaya https://t.co/ctPbOI9CDD pic.twitter.com/8bzsA0hOiF— (@Bangkokboy17) January 23, 2024
The clip went viral and attracted a lot of negative reactions from netizens. One user wrote, “It is not wrong to be very rich. There is definitely a problem when that person doesn’t have a sense of public responsibility.”
Another user commented, “I would have freaked out with the kids.”
Meanwhile, Sawangjit could face a prison term of up to six months and/or a maximum fine of 50,000 baht (US$1,400). As the video gained traction, the Thailand Police launched an investigation to find out about the owner of the Bentley as he drove past Pattaya’s Bang Lamung district.
Police later said that the driver was Sawanjit's friend from India, Thai PBS World reported.
As per the report by South China Morning Post, owning exotic animals such as lions is legal in Thailand, but they need to be registered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
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