A Thai historical TV series, “The Empress of Ayodhaya”, has come under fire over a scene involving the apparent poisoning of a black cat, sparking outrage over animal cruelty during filming.
The scene in question depicted a black cat dying, after licking a cup of tea laced with poison. After the scene was broadcast, one of the actresses posted on X, that the cat was not technically poisoned, but was sedated during filming. Some actors replied to the post the cat deserves an award for its “realistic” acting skills. The post has already been deleted.
Cat lovers online, some claiming to be animal experts, commented that cat sedation is animal cruelty. Some criticised the film crew, stating that it is not necessary to drug a cat when there are many other ways to depict the same scene without the need to put an animal’s life at risk, such as through the use of computer graphics.
Thai netizens went as far as calling for a boycott of the series, currently being broadcast on channel ONE31 and on Netflix, through a hashtag campaign #แบนแม่หยัว (ban The Empress of Ayodhaya series).
The director of the series, Sant Srikaewlaw, posted on Facebook to clarify the filming procedure, stating that the cat was sedated under close supervision of the owner and experts. After the filming of that scene was completed, the cat recovered and is back to normal. He has since posted videos of the cat, confirming that the cat is safe.
Meanwhile, Channel ONE31 issued a statement today, which reads “We consider the safety and welfare of animals as our utmost priority. The cat that was used during filming came from an animal modelling company, which includes experts with 10 years of experience in using animals for filming.”
It also apologised for causing viewer discomfort and said that they will take the feedback and criticism into account to prevent such incidents in the future.
