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In the village of Wang Luang in northern Thailand’s Phrae Province, there is a traditional ritual held to end a drought that involves putting a live cat in a cage, parading it around town and splashing it with water. The cat’s cries were said to call down rain.

As the area is currently in the grips of a severe drought, the villagers held the ritual again this week, but with one key change: robot cat Doraemon stepped in as the caged feline.

The change came in response to recent legislation passed in Thailand against animal cruelty. The language of the law has been criticized by both sides for not clearly defining what constitutes cruelty, so it’s not certain whether the splashing ritual would be illegal, but to be safe, the villagers decided to use a stand-in.

Originally, they planned to use a stuffed toy cat, but a plush Doraemon was the closest thing they could find.

The drought has not yet broken, but I’m sure Doraemon did his best.

Via: Thailand Hyper Links
Featured/top image: Channel 3 News