A cat was gruesomely killed in Vinkel at the end of last year. The animal was crushed when its owner sat on top of it. The man says he slipped. The police judge in Den Bosch ruled differently on Thursday afternoon. She believes that the 55-year-old man deliberately killed the animal and so he received a community service of 40 hours.
What exactly happened on the evening of November 29, 2022 in the kitchen of the apartment where the man lives with his wife? One thing is clear: the man had drunk a lot that night.
Drunk mood
“I did have a lot of beer,” he admits. According to his wife, it is a crate, the police judge quoted from the investigation of the judiciary. Despite his drunkenness, the man denies sitting on the animal on purpose.
“I have not done that. I am not an animal abuser and have just joined the DierenLot foundation. So what happened? That evening I had on goat wool socks and slipped on the slippery kitchen floor when I wanted to grab a beer from the fridge. I fell and landed on top of the cat. And that was very hard. I could barely walk for a month and a half.”
It turned out even worse for the cat: it did not survive. “What do you want? I weigh about ninety kilograms. The fact that I then shouted that I killed the animal was because my wife and the neighbor reacted so hysterically. I was stressed too.”
Remarkably quiet
His wife, who was not at the hearing, clearly thinks otherwise. She found it remarkably quiet as she lay in her bed. She went downstairs and saw her husband sitting on the cat with both knees. The head of the animal stuck out between his legs.
Why would the man have wanted to end the animal’s life? He had been annoyed for some time by the poor health of the animal. The cat peed on his legs that night. That may have been the straw that broke his camel’s back.
The officer did not believe that the man had slipped and that the victim was crushed as a result. Forensic examination also failed to prove this. Moreover: how can the man explain that he was suddenly wearing slippers when the police arrived?
Criminal record
The sentence that the judge imposed on him can have serious consequences. The man had already been fired from his previous employer. Now that he has a criminal record, he also threatens to miss out on a new job.
The man hinted that this could mean the end of his marriage. “I can’t support my wife and our other cat if I don’t have a job.”