The young boy was alone when he visited the Rekerhout Petting Zoo (Picture: Media TV)
A young boy strangled nine rabbits and two guinea pigs to death during a solo trip to a petting zoo.
The nine-year-old was said to have shown ‘no emotion’ after killing the animals at the Rekerhout Petting Zoo in Alkmaar, Netherlands.
The boy walked into the petting zoo alone before killing the animals on March 11.
Manager Ali Dorenbos told local media: ‘It makes you completely sick.’
The young boy will not face criminal charges as he’s under the age of 12, but he will be enrolled into a care program.
A psychiatrist, Esther van Fenema, said of the incident: ‘I feel sorry for the animals, but also for the little boy who apparently feels so bad that he has to do this.
The petting zoo called the instance ‘sickening’ (Picture: Media TV)
‘If you kill an animal in the house; explain to the child why. Even if it is an insect. So that it learns that you don’t wring the neck of a guinea pig, which is harmful.’
The killings come after it was revealed children are filming themselves using catapults to injure and kill animals in a UK-wide WhatsApp chat.
Around 500 members across 11 group chats, which includeprimary school children, have shared footage of their kills.
The injured animals are shown slowly dying as they are shot with the catapults, while others are kicked to death.
Animals targeted include pigs, deer, pigeons, foxes, squirrels, pheasants, rabbits, geese and ducks.
More Trending
In one video, a deer is seen twitching on the ground severely injured with a head wound.
The child who attacked the animal then stands over it while showing off their hand-held catapult.
Psychologist Joni E. Johnston formerly wrote of the warning signs parents should watch out for if their child is hurting animals.
She said: ‘Locking a pet inside a closed space, violently lashing out at a pet after getting in trouble with a parent, or taking pleasure in watching an animal in pain are all “red flags” that signal the need for professional intervention.
‘This is particularly true when the child has the cognitive maturity to understand that what s/he is doing is wrong, and repeatedly does it anyway.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.