Marcel Winatschek

Some People Just Are Like This

A man in Lebanon named Hassan Hammoud put his cat in a microwave and had his friend film it. One minute. The cat survived with severe burns. Hammoud found it funny.

The video spread across social media in the region and the response was immediate—people pointing out, among other things, that this is precisely how serial killers typically begin, and demanding that Lebanese police act. The problem is that Lebanon has no legislation against animal cruelty, which meant there was nothing formal to charge him with. Maybe this incident changes that. Maybe it doesn’t.

I don’t have much more to say about it. The urge to locate this behavior within some broader social or cultural failure feels like it softens the individual’s responsibility. Hassan Hammoud put his cat in a microwave and laughed while his friend filmed it. Some people are just broken in ways that precede explanation. That’s where the analysis starts and, honestly, where it should end.