An electrical pole in Taman Lestari Putra, Malaysia, was climbed by the primate last Thursday to steal Saru, a two-week-old black-and-white dog.

In response to the hostage situation, the residents gathered under the post to assess the situation.

According to onlooker Cherry Lew Yee Lee, the puppy appeared weary and tired, but it didn’t seem to be injured by the monkey. While the puppy was being held by the monkey, it moved around.

‘It looked like it was treating the puppy as a friend or its baby, it was very strange.

Although the dog appeared to be starving, we still needed to save it.

Saru ran away from Cherry and her neighbours three times as he held the puppy while climbing electricity lines and climbing trees.

As long as there was food available at the top of the electricity pole, it kept returning there.

It took several throws to get Saru to drop into the bushes, and then the monkey took off into the trees with the residents throwing things at it.

In spite of Saru’s injuries, a local took her home for food and check-ups.

A stray dog’s litter is believed to have been snatched by Saru, who has now been adopted.

The Malaysian government receives an average of 3,800 complaints about monkeys every year.

Up to 70,000 monkeys, mostly macaques, are killed each year as part of a mass culling program launched by the country’s wildlife department in 2013.