Osaka: Twitter video shows man dragging iguana behind bicycle

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have launched an inquiry following the emergence of an online video that shows a man dragging an iguana from behind a bicycle in Osaka City, reports NHK (Feb. 27).

In the clip, which was uploaded to Twitter, the man pulls the iguana along a sidewalk with a rope attached to a rear basket as he pedals near Osaka Metro’s Midoribashi Station in Higashinari Ward.

Primarily, the iguana is shown being dragged on its stomach. However, at one point the animal attempts to run along at the speed of the bicycle but fails to keep up.

“Isn’t this animal cruelty?” wrote the person who posted the video. One viewer commented, “It must be painful to be dragged by the stomach. Poor thing.”

However, the person who uploaded the clip concedes that the animal may have accidentally fallen off the back of the bicycle with the man not noticing.

Police are now following up on a tip provided by a viewer of the clip.