16-year-old banned from keeping animals for a decade after flushing a kitten down the toilet while high on super-strength cannabis

UNITED KINGDOM -- A 16-year-old filmed throwing a kitten against a door and flushing it in the toilet has been banned from keeping animals for ten years after it had to be put down because of the abuse it suffered.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had to look away as disturbing footage of Tilly meowing in distress as he threw her against the door was played in Swindon Magistrates Court.

Tilly was held by her tail and dangled in bathwater. She was in such a sorry
state when RSPCA inspectors found her that she had to be put to sleep.
Inspectors said she suffered a lot in her short life

He claimed he was 'accidentally' high on 'white rhino' - super-strength cannabis - and was being egged on by friends when the abuse occurred.

The defendant admitted to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering and was given a nine-month referral order and banned for keeping animals for ten years.

At an earlier hearing, Tilly's owner, Sarah Reeves, 19, was also given a ten-year ban from keeping animals.

Owner Sarah Reeves was filmed
 throwing her cat against the
walls, alerting the RSPCA to the abuse

The RSPCA became aware of Tilly's condition when friends filmed Reeves throwing the young cat against the walls of her home, where the male had been living for a month, the court heard.

RSPCA Inspector Miranda Albinson said when she arrived, the cat was cowering under a blanket, weighing just a third of what she should weigh, cold to the touch and 'clearly dying'.

She said: 'This cat suffered a great deal in its very short life.'

Tanya James, prosecuting the 16-year-old, told the court: 'The vet was asked to consider all the evidence in relation to this defendant, and in his opinion, it shows him subjecting the cat concerned to mental and physical suffering when he flushed her in the toilet.

'The cat was further distressed when it was forced to cling on to him (the defendant), and being dropped in the bath was a further traumatic experience. The cat would have been suffering considerable stress and anxiety throughout the incident. He states the cat was locked in the bathroom 24/7 and rarely got fed.

 

  

'He had been living at the address for a month, and said he had kicked the cat in the stomach in a play fight. He agreed he had been cruel to Tilly. On the day in question he had come back to the house and there was a group of males smoking weed and Sarah asked him to put Tilly in the bathroom.'

Mark Glendenning, defending the youth, said: 'The cat suffered at the hands of the co-defendant which is why it had to be euthanised. He can give no credible explanation as to why this happened, other than he did not give it any thought, which is worrying in itself.

'There is some talk he will have to rely on food banks, and he was effectively sofa-surfing.' Linda Raine, Chair of the Bench, told the youth: 'This was a horrible incident. I notice you couldn't bring yourself to even look at the video. Unfortunately we had to.'

(Daily Mail - April 15, 2015)