In disturbing footage, two fishermen from Iceland were seen laughing hysterically as they were chopping off the tail of a defenseless shark that got caught in their line by accident.
Rather than releasing the shark from their fishing line, the young fishermen decided to torture the animal by hacking off its tail before tossing it back into the sea.
“Good luck trying to swim, you punk!” they shouted as they threw the injured animal into the sea, leaving it to die due to the extent of the injuries.
After the incident went viral, thousands of people, including the Aquaman actor Jason Momoa, lashed out at the fishermen and condemned their actions.
“And there you are… It sucks to see that you are probably good men friends providers fathers but you fu*king did this,” Momoa wrote on Instagram.
“Your life will forever change I have never in my life seen something so cruel. Your laugh makes me furious never have I wanted to hurt a human as much as I did when I heard your laugh and what u said.
“This will change you and hopefully you will save and protect I pray you find redemption. We all make mistakes but what u did was evil PURE EVIL. You will get what that shark got. F*CK YOU.”
Following their cruel actions, the fishermen are not only facing a backlash but potential legal consequences due to animal cruelty.
“If no law covers this then they cannot be punished. This is a difficult matter because when the laws were drafted certain species of animals were excluded, including all the wild fish. So it’s a gray area legally to see if this is punitive or not,” lawyer Árni Stefán Árnasson told RUV.
In an interview with Bored Panda, Hjalti Andrason of Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority added that they are looking into the matter and discussing next-step-actions.
“MAST is looking into the matter and collecting information but a decision has not been made as of yet. Under the animal welfare law, MAST can fine up to 1.000.000 ISK for animal abuse or request a police investigation. The latter can lead to prosecution and conviction,” he said.
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