A convicted Australian drug dealer has triggered outrage in Bali after allegedly beating a puppy to death on camera and claiming he later ate the animal.
Robby Wirramanda, whose real name is Robert Knight, reportedly obtained the black puppy on West Nusa Tenggara, an island east of Bali, while celebrating his recent wedding.
Footage obtained by Our News Outlet appears to show Wirramanda wearing traditional Indonesian clothing as a frightened black puppy is placed in front of him.
The 53-year-old, who is from Mildura in Victoria, is then seen striking the whimpering animal several times with a stick.
The video appears to depict Wirramanda killing the puppy within moments, delivering blows to its head as his new wife, Rensi Ana, encourages him.
In another video filmed at Ana’s shop in her home village of Sumbawa, Wirramanda spoke about the events surrounding the wedding.
“On the first day, I killed a pig for the wedding,” he said.
“And yeah, I’ve killed a dog, ate the dog as well. I think they were a bit shocked because maybe they don’t think a bule (foreigner) would kill a pig and a dog.”
Video appears to show Robby Wirramanda Knight collecting a black puppy before beating it to death on West Nusa Tenggara, an island near Bali.
Smiling, he carries the puppy away to be killed. In the footage, the animal’s legs appear to be tied with a cord before it is beaten while whimpering and struggling to escape.
The terrified puppy is placed among a group of villagers, while Wirramanda waits with a stick before attacking the animal.
No escape: Wirramanda stands over the puppy before appearing to deliver the fatal blows with a stick.
‘But I’ve been hunting and killing my own meat since I was young.’
In another video Wirramanda watches a yellow-coloured dog run through Ana’s shop and boasts, ‘might eat that dog later.
‘When this one gets fat, we’re gonna eat this one.
The former prison inmate, who served more than six years’ jail in Australia for drug offences, is a former jiujitsu champion turned Indigenous artist.
Appalled Aussie expats in Bali shared the video of Wirramanda killing the dog – as well as fatally skewering a squealing pig during the same wedding festivities – in local Facebook groups.
One Australian woman posted on I Love Bali Dogs that the video was ‘the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen’ while the Australian and Bali Expat Community page posted ‘who is this fat ugly (Australian… smashing a puppy with a bat to death. He deserves to be named and shamed.’
Angry Australians took to Wirramanda’s Facebook page – one commenting on a photo of him and his new wife captioned ‘soulmates’: ‘Can’t believe you have a soul. Wait to see when God intervenes.’
Wirramanda’s new Indonesian wife posted the videos on her Facebook page after what seems to have been a whirlwind romance culminating in their marriage.
Robby Wirramanda (left) makes short work on killing the tethered dog, delivering final blows (right) to its head with the encouragement of his new bride, Rensi Ana, but to the horror of Bali expats
The former Victorian prison inmate also skewered a pig, impaling the squealing animal with devastating efficiency in front of locals in Sumbawarra, east of Bali
Wirramanda with his new bride, Rensi Ana, a local shopkeeper who egged her new husband on as he carried out the slaughter of a black puppy and a pig
In further videos on Rensi Ana’s social media pages, Wirramanda muses that he’ll have to build a gym in Sumbawarra, where he and his new wife would build a house.
He said he had been made very welcome by the ‘depth of love and sincerity’ from his new in-laws and claimed that although ‘Australia is a beautiful country don’t get me wrong’ it was going in the wrong direction.
‘It’s lost its uniqueness in a lot of ways, its lost that culture of respect especially that tribal respect in small villages we see people care about one another.
‘We don’t talk sh*t about one another because we’re all close.’
He responded to online criticism – which included that he had a criminal past and that his new wife was ‘marrying her grandfather’ – with a Facebook post.
‘I want to address some of the things being shared about me and Rensi, because there is a lot being said online.
‘Many years ago, I was lost and I got myself into serious trouble. Today, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, I don’t use drugs and I’m not interested in partying.
‘Rensi and I went to church together on our very first date.’
Wirramanda defended his slaughter of the animals, saying it was traditional killing and that ‘I have never taken pleasure in hurting or killing an animal for entertainment or fun’
He also issued a statement addressing ‘the discussion about animals and our traditional marriage ceremony’ in Sumba.
‘Animals form part of traditional ceremonies and food here. I respect the culture that has welcomed me and I participated in those traditions,’ he said.
‘I want to make something very clear: I have never taken pleasure in hurting or killing an animal for entertainment or fun.
‘I don’t have a strong emotional reaction to an animal being killed for food, particularly when it is part of a traditional ceremony, but that is completely different from enjoying cruelty to animals.’
Wirramanda made news in 2019 when he posted video online of his neighbours questioning his Aboriginality and attempting to remove an Aboriginal flag from his property.
As then deputy chair of the First Peoples of Millewa-Mallee in Mildura, in northwestern Victoria, he called on Australians to stand up against everyday racism against Indigenous people.
Our News Outlet contacted Wirramanda for comment over killing and eating his dog.
