The 58-year-old was caught after police found videos of him abusing his cat – and was handed a six-month suspended sentence as he wept in court and apologised to the pet
A man who was found guilty of abusing his cat sobbed in court and apologised to the pet as a judge told him his cat had a right to “sexual self-determination”.
The 58-year-old man, who is originally from France but now lives in Uster, Switzerland, was said to have let the cat lick his private parts after pouring milk onto the area. He also filmed the abuse and shared the disturbing videos with others. The man was handed a six-month suspended sentence and was ordered to a pay a fine of 2,000 Swiss francs (£1,772), Bild reports.
He wept in court as a judge said his pet had a right to “dignity” and “sexual self-determination”. Detectives were able to trace the owner after finding the videos, along with other images of animal pornography. While he did not produce the other images, he had downloaded and distributed them.
The man told the court he grew bored during the Covid lockdown and began seeking out “dubious” websites, adding others had encouraged him to circulate the videos with his cat.
As he was sentenced, the owner wept and apologised to his pet in court, saying he did not have an attraction to animals. He said: “I regret it, it was stupid.” The public prosecutor sought a harsher penalty, but the judge ultimately sided with the defense’s recommendation for a more lenient sentence. The convicted man can appeal.
In Switzerland, sexual acts involving animals are considered a violation of animal dignity – and are treated as animal cruelty, whether or nor the animal suffers any physical harm.
It comes after a leading British crocodile expert was jailed for 10 years and five months in Australia, after he admitted sexually abusing dozens of dogs in August last year. Adam Britton, 53 pleaded guilty to 56 charges relating to bestiality and animal cruelty, plus four counts of accessing child abuse material.
The Northern Territory (NT) Supreme Court heard the zoologist himself torturing the animals until almost all died, and then shared the videos online under pseudonyms – and his abuse went unnoticed for years.