United Kingdom: Police say Kyle Keegan, 23, posted video to Snapchat showing him beating a puppy with a hammer and then cooking it to death in a microwave

UNITED KINGDOM -- A fight has broken out in a courtroom during the appearance of a man charged in connection with an alleged hammer attack on an 11-week-old puppy.

The 23-year-old man's mother clashed with animal rights activists inside the court after angry remarks were shouted at her son.

 

Kyle Keegan, of Gilpins Manor, Lurgan, Co Armagh, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday charged with animal cruelty.

Standing in the dock, Keegan simply nodded to confirm his name and the charge against him.

They're accusing Keegan of beating the 11-week-old puppy to death with a hammer and then cooking it inside a microwave. Someone videotaped the torture death and then uploaded it onto Snapchat, which has become the app of choice for animal torturers and abusers to brag about their heinous crimes.

It is believed footage of the alleged attack was shared on social media platforms including Snapchat on Saturday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has appealed for any information.

Detectives have called for anyone who has seen the footage or has photographs of the incident to come forward.     

As he was remanded in custody, a number of animal rights activists shouted angrily at him.

His mother approached one of the activists, and insisted: "He was brought up decent. He was brought up well," before leaving the courtroom.

Keegan was arrested on Tuesday after police were made aware that a puppy had been killed in an alleged hammer attack on Saturday at an apartment in Ailsbury Park, Lurgan.

No bail application was made, and Keegan was remanded in custody for four weeks.

The case was adjourned to March 2 when Keegan will appear before the court via videolink.

(Express UK - February 7, 2018)

Brazil: Teen films herself microwaving her pet guinea pig then uploads the video online, thinking everyone would think she was clever

BRAZIL -- A teenage girl has caused outrage after she allegedly posted a video online showing how she “cooked” her guinea pig by putting it in a microwave.

The 16-year-old girl, identified as Vitoria Muller, from Brazil, is accused of microwaving her pet after being encouraged by friends to do it, according to local reports.

The accused girl was slammed on social media for her cruelty against this poor animal.

Authorities said they seized the animal and transferred it to a vet to be seen to.

Despite the distressing ordeal, the vet said the guinea pig was not injured. It was not returned to the girl or her family.

Her dad said he took her to the authorities, where she was made to explain the reasons behind her cruel act and was forced to apologize for her “shameful behavior”.

He said: “My daughter was already punished for her bad behavior. The animal is fine and in the name of all my family we apologize.

The dad added: “We all take care of animals in this house and we would never let something like this happen. We apologize again for all that happened.”

WHAT KIND OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS TORTURE AND KILL ANIMALS FOR AMUSEMENT?

Some have started an online campaign calling for her to be punished using the hashtag #PunicaoParaVitoria – which translates to “Punishment For Vitoria”.

One user wrote: “I cannot believe she was cooking the poor animal”.

Another added: “What a b***h. Abusing a small animal like this… only to get more followers.”

The girl has since deleted her social media accounts following the backlash.

(The Sun UK - May 11, 2017)

Man, 59, killed his pet rabbit by cooking it for THREE minutes in a microwave

UNITED KINGDOM -- A cruel pet owner killed his rabbit by cooking it in a MICROWAVE for three minutes, a court heard.

Paul Rogers bought the animal – which he named Fluffy George Fudge – from a pet shop and fed it dandelions in his guest house room.

But after five days he horrifically turned on the pet and put it in the microwave and switched it on for three minutes.

Rogers, 59, told a fellow resident it ‘squealed and wriggled’ as it suffered a lingering and painful death.

The other man found it dead lying on a saucepan lid when he went to feed it in Rogers’ room.

Rogers pleaded guilty with diminished responsibility to causing an animal unnecessary suffering and will be sentenced next month.

JPs that he had since become distressed about the incident, expressed remorse and maintains ‘all life is sacred’.

Magistrates in Cheltenham, Glos., heard that Rogers bought the rabbit ‘to rescue it from hoodies’ and took it to the Dorchester Guesthouse in Gloucester.

A few days later he told another resident he had put the pet in the microwave -  he thought he was taking the mickey. But Rogers then left the guest house ‘in a state’ shortly afterwards and he found the dead animal.

Rogers turned up at a nearby overnight homeless shelter where he told a support worker that the rabbit had squealed and wriggled during the ordeal.

He was then interviewed by police at a local mental health facility where he confessed.

Prosecuting Rafe Turner told the court: “This is a single matter simply involving causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit – a domestic pet.

“It lived with him for a short time, a matter of days, when he chose to put the rabbit in a microwave at the premises at which he was living, that being a room at the Dorchester Guesthouse.

“Quite clearly what was admitted was the demise of the rabbit, and that is what has occurred.

“There was a lingering and painful death which falls quite squarely into the most serious sentencing category. There was an attempt to kill or torture the rabbit and it is blatantly obvious that was the case.”

Helen Smith, defending, said Rogers’ culpability was far less than an average person because he was homeless, in poor health and had been sleeping rough for two months.

She said he was now very distressed about the incident, has expressed remorse and maintains  ‘all life is sacred’.

She told the bench: “When he was interviewed he was medically unwell.

“You have had read to you part of the interview done with Mr Rogers and I am sure you will find some of those comments alarming but also perceive an odd train of thought coming from him which gives testament that he is not a well man.

“This is, from his point of view, a cry for help. These words were coming from a man that suffers mental health issues.”

Rogers of no fixed abode pleaded guilty with diminished responsibility to causing an animal unnecessary suffering.

Sentencing was adjourned until November 4 while probation officers produce a report.

(SWNS - October 10, 2014)

Woman who killed a helpless kitten by putting it in a microwave is JAILED for 14 weeks

UNITED KINGDOM -- Jobless Laura Cunliffe, 23, put four-month-old Mowgli in the microwave, set the controls for five minutes and left it.

Incredibly the cat, which was nearly a year old and Cunliffe had kept from a few weeks old, was still alive when it came out but she died shortly afterwards.

Jailing her at Barnsley Magistrates Court, district judge John Foster told her: "The utterly barbaric nature of the act you carried out does demand a deterrent sentence."

The black-and-white pet suffered a slow and painful death 90 minutes later and was buried by a friend, the court heard.

Brian Orsborn, prosecuting for the RSPCA said the kitten was in a distressed state when Miss Cunliffe took it out of the oven.

She wrapped it in a towel and took it to her step-sister's house and later said: "It was laid out and proper screeching."

Cunliffe, of Northumberland Avenue, Hoyland, South Yorkshire disclosed what had happened to Mowgli when she visited hospital for a mental health assessment three days later.

She admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Mr Orsborn said Cunliffe told a nurse at Barnsley Hospital that the cat had woken her by jumping on the bed.

When she went downstairs she found the goldfish in four pieces on the floor. "She was angry at the cat and put it in the microwave," he said.

Realising what she had done was wrong she stopped the oven and the cat was still breathing when she took her to her step-sister's.

The court heard she was "crying and shaking and had the kitten in a towel."

The step-sister said Cunliffe told her she had put the cat in the oven for five minutes then realised what she had done and took it out after a minute.

Cunliffe later confessed to a nurse that she had not taken her medication and "the kitten had got hold of the goldfish."

The court heard she had found bits of fish all over the kitchen and said: “I looked at the cat and thought you f**ing bitch.”

A vet who examined Mowgli said it would have "suffered immensely" and her death must have been "extremely painful."

Alan Greaves, defending, said Cunliffe was suffering from psychosis and depression and had been sectioned several times under mental health legislation.

She described herself as "happy" but became "extremely distressed" at times. She had cared for the cat carrying it around inside her jacket and even took it out to be with her.

She had become angry with the cat and it was too late to repair the damage. "It was something done in temper on the spur of the moment," he said.

The district judge said: "This was a shocking and distressing case."

He realised the defendant had difficulties and she had shown remorse but she had made admissions about what she had done.

He went on: "I have concluded that you were entirely aware of what you were doing at the time you committed this shocking act.

Mr Foster said: "This was an act of utterly horrendous cruelty on your part to an animal which had hitherto come to trust you and rely upon you to which you had shown care.

"By taking the inexplicable action you did this animal was caused immense suffering."

As well as being jailed Cunliffe was banned from keeping animals for life.

RSPCA Insp Paula Clemence welcomed the sentence and said afterwards: "We hope that this means that other animals will not have to suffer this way in the future.

"It is clearly a sad case and the poor kitten would have suffered terribly over a long period of time."

(Express UK - Mar 13, 2014)

Earlier:

• Woman, 23, killed kitten by cooking it in a microwave for five minutes 'because it attacked her pet goldfish'

Woman, 23, killed kitten by cooking it in a microwave for five minutes 'because it attacked her pet goldfish'

UNITED KINGDOM -- A woman killed her kitten by cooking it in a microwave for five minutes, a court has heard.

Unemployed Laura Cunliffe, 23, from Hoyland near Barnsley, is said to have put four-month-old Mowgli in the microwave after it attacked her pet goldfish.

 

Cunliffe then set the controls to cook for five minutes - Barnsley Magistrates were told.

Remarkably, the black and white female was alive when Cunliffe finally removed it from the machine - but she died shortly afterwards.

Cunliffe pleaded guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and was granted unconditional bail. She will be sentenced on March 13.

Brian Orsborn, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court that Cunliffe had had the kitten since it was a few weeks old.

He said: 'The kitten was in a distressed state when Miss Cunliffe took it out of the oven. She took the animals to a relative’s home.

'The kitten could not get its breath and died about ninety minutes later. Miss Cunliffe made arrangements for the body of the kitten to be taken away to be buried.

The dead animal and its burnt paws.

'The RSPCA became involved and was able to trace the man who carried out the burial.'

Mr Orsborn said that Cunliffe disclosed what she had done three days later when she was at Barnsley Hospital.

She said the kitten had attacked her goldfish.

After the hearing Lynsey Harris, RSPCA deputy chief inspector said: 'In the 13 years I have been in the job I have never dealt with a case like this before.

'It is particularly horrendous because of the period of suffering for the kitten which would have been awful.'

She said that the exposure to the radiation in the microwave would have cooked the animal’s internal organs.

She said: 'It is an horrific case in the fact that the death of the cat would have been prolonged and it is unimaginable what it would have gone through taking some time to die.



The kitten died around 90 minutes after
 it was put in the microwave by Cunliffe

'The main reason the RSPCA  took this case in order to achieve disqualifications in order to protect animals and prevent further suffer in the future.'

Alan Greaves, defending said Cunliffe’s problems included psychosis and depression.

He said Cunliffe had been sectioned under mental health legislation several times.

(Daily Mail - Feb 21, 2014)

PHOTOS ADDED: Two S. Portland teens charged after kitten-in-microwave video

MAINE -- Two teenage girls have been charged with animal cruelty after police said they put a kitten in a microwave oven last week and then posted a video of the incident online.

South Portland police launched an investigation after the short video was posted Thursday on Twitter, a personal micro-blogging website.

“We got all kinds of tips. Anonymous tips on our phone line, tips on our Facebook,” said Lt. Frank Clark. “A lot of people were pretty upset by this.”

The ensuing investigation led police to issue summonses Monday to a pair of 15-year-old South Portland High School students. Their names are not being released because they are juveniles.

Attempts to reach South Portland High School administrators late Monday afternoon were unsuccessful. An office assistant said both the principal and vice principal had left for the day.

Clark said the case is still under investigation and will be referred to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office for “review and consideration of the appropriate juvenile charges.”

“We want to say thank you to those who reported this matter to the department and would ask for the public’s patience in letting the system do its job,” he wrote in a news release.

For adults, animal cruelty can be either a civil violation, punishable by a fine, or a Class D crime punishable by up to a year in prison for adults. If an animal dies or is subject to extreme torture, the crime could be upgraded to a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

The video, which had been taken off Twitter but could still be found elsewhere online Monday afternoon, is less than 10 seconds long. It shows a girl with long hair place the animal into the microwave, close the door and push a button. The microwave’s interior light then goes on, which typically indicates the oven is in use.

Another girl then enters the frame, opens the microwave door and removes the kitten.

The animal, according to Clark, did not appear to have been injured, but its owners, who were not identified, agreed to turn the feline over to the city’s animal control officer.

Clark said late Monday that the kitten is now at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook.

Lynne McGhee, community relations manager for the shelter, said the 8-week-old female is doing well and is scheduled to be evaluated by a veterinarian Tuesday.

“Hopefully, by next week, she’ll be available for adoption,” McGhee said.

Most of the animals that end up at the Westbrook shelter are victims of neglect or are malnourished, but some are abused more seriously.

McGhee said this case is a great opportunity to educate young people about their online habits.

“I’m sure this was a way for them to joke around and try to be silly but they put this animal in danger,” she said.

John Bott, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which oversees the state animal welfare office, said his office is aware of the incident but had not been contacted.

He said the state office receives between 500 and 600 complaints of animal cruelty every year, the majority of which involve cats or dogs. That does not include calls that are made directly to local animal control officers.

Bott said his office does not have a searchable database, but he said he could not remember a case like this in recent years.

In November 2010 in Pennsylvania, two teenage boys put a kitten in a microwave and then threw the microwave out a window. The cat survived. The boys were each charged with animal cruelty.

Last year in England, a mentally disturbed 19-year-old man was convicted of microwaving a cat to death. He was sentenced to 22 weeks in prison.

(Morning Sentinel - Sept 9, 2013)

Pennsylvania: Shawn McGonigal, 28, gets probation after trying to kill kitten by cooking it alive in the microwave

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Bethlehem man will pay a $300 fine and be on 18 months of probation after pleading guilty Tuesday to putting a kitten in a microwave.

Shawn T. McGonigal, 28, of 568 Brighton St. was ordered to have no contact with animals, to get mental health treatment, and to attend anger management classes as part of his sentence on the misdemeanor cruelty to animals charge.

McGonigal claimed he was angry with the cat because it urinated on him while he slept at his girlfriend's Bath apartment, said prosecutor Jacqueline Taschner.

The kitten suffered burn injuries to its feet, ears, whiskers and mouth.

McGonigal's fine will be paid to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Northampton County Judge Kimberly McFadden ruled.

(The Morning Call - October 09, 2008)

Canada: Two teenagers admit to shoving cat inside microwave and cooking it alive. The cat screamed and suffered for 10 minutes before finally dying.

CANADA -- Two Canadian teenagers cut their burglary and animal abuse trial short Wednesday in Camrose, Alberta, by pleading guilty to microwaving a cat during a break-in.

The males, 16 and 17, who can't be identified, struck a deal earlier this week in connection with the December 2007 events and will face sentencing July 17 after their lawyers cut a deal with prosecutors, the Edmonton Journal reported.

In all, four teens are charged with breaking into the house twice while the owners were away on Christmas vacation. The house was badly vandalized, and Crown prosecutor John Laluk alleged on the second break-in, the cat was killed.

"There were reports of the sound of the cat screaming and that 10 minutes passed before the sounds diminished and the cat died," he told the court.

After the surprise guilty plea, Laluk told reporters it was unlikely the teens would face jail time because they are first-time offenders and have no prior records. He said the two indicated they wanted to apologize to the cat owners before being sentenced.

The other two teens charged entered innocent pleas and will go to trial Nov. 17, the report said.

(UPI - June 4, 2008)

Earlier:

• Canada: Four teenage boys, ages 13 to 15, broke into a home, grabbed the family's cat, stuffed him inside the microwave and cooked it alive

Canada: Four teenage boys, ages 13 to 15, broke into a home, grabbed the family's cat, stuffed him inside the microwave and cooked it alive

CANADA -- Police in the Canadian province of Alberta have charged four teenage boys with killing a cat by cooking it in a microwave oven during a recent break-in.

Police allege that after breaking into a home in Camrose, near Edmonton, last month the four teens took a cat living there and cooked it inside the oven, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Sunday.

Police Inspector Lee Foreman said the alleged actions of the teenagers, who range from 13 to 15 years of age, were particularly disturbing since it occurred during the holiday season.

"I've been policing for over 25 years and I've never encountered anything quite like this," Foreman said. "It's very disturbing. It's especially sad given the season."

The cat's owners found the animal dead inside the microwave upon returning home from their holiday travels.

The CBC said the teens, none of whom are related to the home's owners, have been charged with unlawfully killing an animal, theft, and breaking and entering.

(UPI - Jan 6, 2008)

Pennsylvania: Raymond Manness, 29, accused of killing bird in microwave loses his fight at preliminary hearing; case set for trial

PENNSYLVANIA -- Charges of cruelty to animals were bound over for court Wednesday against a Bartonsville man who allegedly killed a cockatoo by putting the bird in a microwave and turning the oven on.

Raymond Manness, 29, had also been charged with attempting to kill two kittens in the same manner. Someone removed the kittens from the microwave before they were harmed, police had said.

The incidents took place Aug. 9 at the home of John and Genevieve Hindermyer, 18 Spruce St., Tamaqua, police had said.

A short time after the kittens were saved, Manness allegedly went into the living room and took one of two cockatoos from a cage and put it in the microwave in the kitchen, then turned it on, killing the bird.

A preliminary hearing on the charges was held Wednesday before District Justice Andrew Zelonis in Tamaqua.

The charges of cruelty to animals, criminal mischief and criminal attempt to commit cruelty to animals were bound to Schuylkill County Court, court officials said. Manness was released on recognizance bail.

(The Morning Call - October 1, 1993)

Earlier:

• Pennsylvania: Raymond Manness, 29, charged with animal cruelty; accused of killing a cockatoo by cooking it alive inside microwave

Pennsylvania: Raymond Manness, 29, charged with animal cruelty; accused of killing a cockatoo by cooking it alive inside microwave

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Bartonsville man has been charged with cruelty to animals for killing a cockatoo by putting the exotic bird in a microwave and turning the oven on, Tamaqua police said yesterday.

The accused, Raymond Manness, 29, is also charged with attempting to kill two kittens in similar manner.

Someone in the house removed the kittens from the microwave before they were harmed, borough police said.

Manness has been cited for cruelty to animals, criminal mischief and two counts of criminal attempt to commit cruelty to animals.

The incidents took place at the home of John and Genevieve Hindermyer, 18 Spruce St., Tamaqua, on Monday night, police said.

A short time after the kittens were saved, Manness allegedly went into the living room and took one of two cockatoos from a cage and put it in the microwave in the kitchen, then turned it on, killing the bird.

Criminal complaints have been filed with District Justice Andrew Zelonis of Tamaqua who set a hearing on Sept. 2.

(The Morning Call - August 13, 1993)