An Australian man has thrown his girlfriend’s cat down a garbage chute because she was giving too much attention to it.
The 21-year-old Sydney man abused the cat named Hibala twice when his girlfriend left the cat in his care.
The poor cat suffered severe injuries and was discovered down the refuse chute after his owner noticed that he was missing.
The owner of the cat realized her cat is missing and she searched for her, the two-year-old Ragdoll cat then found stuck in the chute by his owner.
The pet suffered a fractured tail, severe inflammation and open wounds exposing the bone.
A vet removed two-thirds of Hibala’s tail to keep him alive and he was kept four days in the hospital to recover.
‘I have no idea what to say to a person who places a cat in a garbage chute,’ a magistrate at Downing Center Local Court said.
Hibala had many injuries in the man’s care.
While the owner was out of town, she asked for a picture of Hibala and noticed a bump on the cat’s nose.
She was worried to see how Hibala received the bump, the owner asked the man to take the cat to the vet, but he refused to do that, and a friend of the owner took the cat to get checked out.
Hibala’s injuries were serious, and the vet found fractured bones and severe wounds in his front left paw, as well as injuries to his eye, ear, and nose.
The man was fined $6,000, and given a two-year community corrections order with a three month period of intensive corrections ordered. He avoided jail time by placing an early guilty plea.
He is prohibited from purchasing, acquiring, and taking possession or custody of any animal for 10 years.
RSPCA NSW chief inspector Scott Meyers said he was disgusted at the case.
‘Hurting an animal out of pure jealousy, one that belongs to and is loved by your partner no less, and letting it suffer over a prolonged period of time is a shocking display of callousness,’ he said.
Hibala is now living in a new apartment with his owner without the man who abused him.