Jailed for torturing cat

A Zejtun man has been jailed for 15 days for luring a cat with bait into swallowing fishing hooks, tying it up with a fishing line and throwing it into a skip in one of the harshest punishments to be handed down for a case of cruelty to animals in recent years.

Dominic Zahra, 44, was jailed by Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani-Grima after she heard how he tortured the cat because it used to trample all over his garden.

The frenzied cat was eventually rescued from the skip in Hal Tmiem, Zejtun, by police acting on a report. Dr Anne Portelli operated on the cat and removed the fishing hooks from its mouth with the help of a mechanic who had to saw through them.

The police who went to investigate on October 20, 2000, were told by people who had gathered round the skip that Zahra was probably responsible for the torture and he admitted he baited the cat.

Another cat was found wrapped in a plastic bag in the same skip. It was also tied up with fishing line and fishing hooks were hung all over its body. It was not clear whether the second cat was saved.

Magistrate Padovani-Grima ruled that a jail term was appropriate in the circumstances because the defendant was such a cool customer it was difficult to imagine how a reprimand would make him regret his cruelty.

Police Inspector Joseph Agius prosecuted.