This is the moment a mum films a little boy releasing a bird they had rescued shortly before it was caught and eaten by a cat.

The youngster had spotted the little bird at the side of the road with his mum, and after picking it up the mother checked it was okay and then told him to release it so that it could quickly find its mother.

The video starts with the little boy looking upset at having to give up the bird, but then dutifully following his mother’s instructions and placing it down on the ground.

The bird, which appears to be a sparrow, is then placed on the ground where it flutters its wings and then suddenly flies off along the ground.

But it does not get far before the ginger cat rushes out from the side of the camera and pounces on the bird, grabbing it in its mouth and running off in front of the horrified child and its mother.

The video was shot in the prefecture-level city of Xuchang in central Henan province in Central China.

The mother said that the little boy who was three years old was inconsolable and cried for 10 minutes until she lied to him that the cat had taken the bird to find its mother.

Online commentators were torn between amusement and shock at the video.

One user called ‘babe’ commented: “They accidentally rescued a starving cat instead of the bird.”

And ‘Shi Yiguang’ added: “The child will be scarred for life after this.”