A Chinese man recently incurred the wrath of animal lovers after showing off an unusual car hood ornament featuring live fish and crustaceans.

The owner of a Li Auto L9 luxury SUV from Liaoning, China, has been accused of animal cruelty after turning a transparent layer of plastic on the hood of his car into a mobile aquarium full of large fish and crabs. Watching the viral Douyin (TikTok) video of the man’s car for the first time, you’d be tempted to think it was AI-generated, but several Chinese news outlets have confirmed that it’s a real thing. The man who came up with the ingenious idea was even interviewed about his bizarre invention and said that he came up with it during a fishing trip when he forgot to bring a container for the fish. He noticed the transparent plastic layer on the hood of his SUV and thought to himself that he could keep the fish in there.

Noticing that his SUV featured an isolated compartment between the vinyl wrap and a protective TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) film on the hood, the crafty motorist decided to fill the space with water and insert the catch of the day in there. His hood started attracting attention the moment he returned to the city, and videos of it started going viral on social media.

Although the car owner reportedly seemed proud of his idea and the attention it attracted, the general reactions were critical, with some people going as far as accusing him of animal cruelty. People pointed out that the DIY aquarium was right over the motor, which could cause the water to overheat, while others worried about the tight space the live marine creatures had to survive in.

 

The widespread attention the modified Li Auto L9 got on social media over the last few days also attracted the attention of Liaoning’s traffic police, which deemed the man’s car unfit for driving on public roads in its altered state. It’s unclear if the man was fined for his stunt, but police warned motorists that aquarium car hoods were illegal.