Influencer blasted for showing lion at birthday party

LAHORE: In the disturbing trend of using big cats as entertainment, the latest incident has emerged from Lahore where a social media influencer is under fire for displaying a sedated lion at her birthday party.

Videos that have gone viral on social media show the lion, chained and sedated, lounging on a sofa as music blares in the background. According to a media outlet, the footage was filmed at social media influencer Susan Khan's birthday party.

Syed Hassan, who runs the non-profit organisation 'Project Save Animals', received videos of the lion from a friend who attended the party. "If you look at the paws of the lion, they are stubbed, meaning they were declawed," Hassan told the media outlet. "I've seen people in Pakistan showing off wild cats in public and social media. I find it messed up that people get pleasure from seeing an animal that is shackled and sedated."

Project Save Animals shared videos of the chained lion on Instagram, where they have caused outrage among animal rights activists. "These influencers have big audiences that follow them and that leaves them with a bigger responsibility to make the right choices because it's not just ONE birthday party," the organisation wrote. "While I am not against birthdays and how people choose to celebrate them but I am severely against people using animals as props."