Mob beats up dog thieves for 9 hours; attacks police for doing their job

CHINA. In a unexpected display of vigilante justice, a mob brutally beat up and tied up two dog thieves after they were allegedly caught in the act carrying a couple of dead dogs whom they were believed to have killed for meat.

The savage beating happened last June 4 in Yizhang county, Hunan province at around 7 a.m. Shanghaiist reports.

The account goes that after the two suspects were caught red-handed by the villagers, the crowd beat the men for over nine hours and then hung the bodies of the dead animals around their necks.

It took hours before the police arrived. Instead of thanking the crowd, authorities told people that putting the law into their own hands is just not the right thing.

A commotion arose after the residents tried to stop the police officers from taking the two men to the police station. The reason: they want to get paid with 1 million yuan ($160,000) as a reward for catching the animal thieves.

When the officers could not give the amount they were demanding, the mob attacked them with metal bars, even breaking their patrol car in anger.

It did not stop there.

In an attempt to stop the police (and the thieves) from leaving the place, they placed rocks on the road so the police vehicle cannot go through.

Reinforcements and local officials were sent to the area to calm the people down. It was only at around 6 p.m. when everything was settled.

In a statement released by the local Public Security Bureau, they stressed that their police officers were just doing their job when they were assaulted.

Netizens were divided about the news with some saying that the men do not look like they have been subjected to a “9-hour beating.” One man also stated that he was siding with the villagers until he got to the part where they tried to score a million RMB out of the situation and in addition attacked the police who where just doing their duty.