Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This is the moment members of Taiwan’s coastguard are filmed setting a rat on fire with petrol and laughing while the rodent flees and eventually burns to death before torturing other rodents.

The incident as led to an internal inquiry by officials at the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration’s Southern Coastal Patrol Office in the island’s south-western port city of Kaohsiung.

The shocking videos since deleted from social media were posted to Instagram by one of the junior officers, who had been tasked with sorting the station’s rubbish and recycling on 8th May.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

The footage shows both male and female officers at the collection site screaming and laughing as one of the rats is set ablaze inside a puddle of petrol.

The camera follows the animal as it runs away from its captors, eventually burning to death as one coastguard officer holds it by its tail and repeatedly swings it against the ground.

More footage from the day shows a large nest of rats found at the recycling site, with pups swung by their tails and placed into a plastic bucket with larger rodents.

They are tortured with prongs, which are used to jab and lift the squeaking rats.

The cruel clean-up came to the public’s attention after the clips were anonymously posted to Taiwanese online forum Dcard.

The Coast Guard Administration said two officers, surnamed Yang and Wu, had been singled out for review and punishment.

The coastguard’s findings suggest it was their supervisor, Petty Officer Sun, who recommended getting rid of the rat nest using fire.

Yang doused the rodent – possibly more than one – in petrol and set it alight, while Wu filmed and put the clips on his Instagram Stories, its report said.

The coastguard said the incident did not constitute a breach of Taiwan’s Animal Protection Act but served as a “poor representation” of the maritime protection service.

Officials, who also apologised for the incident, did not reveal any punishment for Petty Officer Sun.

The Coast Guard Administration is governed by Taiwan’s executive branch and falls under the island’s Ocean Affairs Council.

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