Man charged with throwing cat down 6 floors then slamming it to the ground twice
Fajar Ashraf Fajar Ali is accused of throwing a female shorthair cat from the sixth floor staircase landing at Block 884, Tampines Street 83.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW.
SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old man was on Wednesday charged over the killing of a cat.
Fajar Ashraf Fajar Ali is accused of throwing a female shorthair cat from the sixth floor staircase landing at Block 884, Tampines Street 83, to the ground at about 1.40am on May 26.
At about 2.30am, at the void deck of the HDB block, he allegedly slammed the same cat to the ground twice.
Ashraf, who did not have a lawyer, told the court that he intends to plead guilty to both charges of animal cruelty.
District Judge Ronald Gwee adjourned the case to Jan 9 in a community court for Ashraf to enter his plea.
The punishment for ill-treating an animal, on a first conviction, is a fine of up to $15,000 (RM46,732), jail for up to 18 months, or both.
The penalty for the crime for subsequent convictions is a fine of up to $30,000 (RM93,464), jail for up to three years, or both.
It was previously reported that neighbours had heard a shriek in the dead of the night and seen a man who looked to be in his 20s slamming a grey cat on the ground twice.
The cat was found lying in a pool of urine with blood flowing out of its mouth, and gave a last cry before it died.
A few days before the incident, a black cat was found dead at Block 885 by a cleaner, also with a blodied mouth. Another cat was found injured with a dislocated leg.
The May 26 case came into the spotlight after the Cat Welfare Society made an appeal for information in a post on its Facebook page on May 30.
In a statement sent out on Wednesday after Ashraf was charged, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said it started investigations immediately after it was alerted to the case.
The cat carcass was collected for a post mortem examination and the suspect's identity was established with the help of police.
Ashraf was arrested on May 31, before being bailed out.
In its statement, the AVA also said it condemns animal cruelty. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
