Dogs and cats in homes are a common sight. The furry animals enjoy themselves and several videos shared on social media have captured the happiness of the pets. However, a cheetah in a house is an unusual occurrence. Recently, a video of a cheetah hitting a Lahore-based influencer has gone viral online.
The clip was shared on Instagram by Nouman Hassan. The shocking video shows a cheetah sitting on a sofa between two men. As Mr Hassa tries to pet the cheetah on his head and back, the large cat gets agitated and attacks him near his ear. It is not clear if the influencer suffered any injuries. However, he is seen walking away from the animal.
"Cheetah Attack," reads the caption of the post which was shared seven days ago. Since being posted, the clip has amassed 2.3 million likes and 173 million views.
"The cheapest tackiest classless ppl in the world are those who keep WILDLIFE as house pets. Money can't buy class or morals," said a user.
A person wrote, "He better be lucky he ain't bite him after that."
"Smiling but crying deep inside, walking away was the best option," remarked a person.
"Finally cheetah remember what I am," stated a user.
An Instagram user said, "Don't keep wild animals as pets! They deserve to be free!"
"The blinding speed of that animal is incredible. If that cat had its claws, he would died instantly," wrote a user.
Notably, Mr Hassan also has lions in his private collection, which he procured from an auction carried out by the Lahore Safari Zoo in August last year. The zoo auctioned off a dozen of lions and tigers to free up space and reduce expenses for meat. Mr Hassan had said at that time that he bought "two to three lions", adding that the auction was a good way to diversify the gene pool for private collectors who already owned a big cat.
Mr Hassan and other owners of these big cats post their images and videos on social media and rent them out for movies and photoshoots.