Estonian blogger threatens to behead a rooster on TikTok live stream; animal advocates go to police
An Estonian animal protection society has filed a police report over a TikTok video in which a blogger known as Zantarra holds a rooster and threatens to kill it. A society representative says the footage does not look faked.
A report on suspected animal cruelty has been filed with police in Estonia after a live-stream video spread on the social network TikTok. In it, a blogger using the nickname Zantarra holds a rooster and threatens to cut off its head. The case was reported by the Estonian outlet limon.postimees.ee.
In the video, the man tells the bird: "If you start arguing, I'll cut your head off." When a viewer asks why he is tormenting the bird, the blogger replies that he will behead it the next day anyway and asks to be allowed to torment it a little first.
How the video reached the media and police
An anonymous reader alerted the editorial team of the outlet Elu24 to the footage and attached the TikTok recording. The newsroom later received a second message stating that Erki Araratjan, who lives in Sillamäe and is known online as Zantarra, had allegedly treated roosters cruelly before.
The video also reached the Estonian Society for the Protection of Animals. Its representative, Kristi Metsa, confirmed that the organization had sent the recording to police and provided the man's name. In her view, the footage does not appear to be faked. Metsa said people watch what others do in live streams and begin doing the same themselves.
Comments and the society's experience
In the video's comments, some users doubt that what is shown is genuine and ask whether the recording has been handed to police and animal advocates. Others cannot understand how anyone can support a person who treats a defenceless living creature cruelly.
Metsa noted that the society fairly often receives links to live streams and videos showing cruelty to animals or birds. When a person's home address can be established, the information is passed to the police or to the Agriculture and Food Department. According to her, police often send such cases back to the department, but she believes they deserve more attention and must be investigated.
