SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean man has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for killing 76 cats in one of the country’s most horrific cases of animal cruelty in recent years.
The 20-year-old man was convicted of violating South Korea’s animal protection law last week, the Changwon District Court in southeastern South Korea said on Tuesday. The court did not identify the man.
The man went on a cat killing spree between December 2022 and September 2023 out of a deep hatred for the animal that he began to harbor after other cats scratched his car, according to a court verdict seen by the Associated Press.
He picked up stray cats and adopted others from online sites before strangling some to death and killing others with scissors, the court order said. He killed a cat by running it over with a car, the court was told.
The court ruled that the prison sentence was inevitable because he repeatedly committed “indescribably cruel” crimes with premeditation.
He highlighted that the sentence still reflected the fact that the man had no criminal record and was remorseful for his crimes, adding that the man’s unspecified mental health condition was considered the motive for his crimes.
The man appealed the decision.
“The sentence reflects Korean society’s growing concern for animal welfare and intolerance for senseless cruelty like this,” said Borami Seo, director of the South Korean office of Humane Society International.
“This cruelty case also emphasizes the importance of passing the amendment to the Civil Law that will legally recognize animals as living beings and further strengthen their legal protection,” Seo added.
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