South Korean man’s cat-killing spree lands him in prison

A South Korean man, identified only as being in his twenties, has been handed a 14-month prison sentence for slaughtering 76 cats.

This harrowing revelation emerged from the recent verdict delivered by the Changwon District Court, which condemned the perpetrator for violating South Korea’s stringent animal protection laws.

According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press, the man’s gruesome spree unfolded between December 2022 and September last year. His unfathomable hatred towards the innocent creatures ignited after several of them allegedly scratched his car.

Fuelled by this resentment, he embarked on a campaign of terror, luring stray cats and acquiring others through online platforms, only to subject them to barbaric acts of violence.

The court order revealed chilling details of his methods, including strangulation, the use of scissors, and even running over one helpless cat with a car. The judge, in delivering the sentence, condemned the acts as “indescribably cruel,” emphasising the premeditated nature of the crimes.

Despite acknowledging the perpetrator’s lack of prior criminal record and expressions of remorse, the court deemed the prison term as unavoidable. Moreover, the man’s undisclosed mental health condition was cited as a contributing factor to his abhorrent behaviour.

Responding to the verdict, Borami Seo, director at the South Korea office of the Humane Society International, expressed a growing societal concern for animal welfare, reported The Nation.

Seo underscored the need for legal reforms, advocating for the recognition of animals as living beings under the Civil Act to afford them greater protection from such senseless acts of cruelty.

In related news, CCTV cameras at a horse farm in the Thalang district of Phuket province featured a foreign man sexually assaulting a pregnant horse, causing the animal to suffer a miscarriage.

The horse owner revealed that the foreigner was an 18 year old American from Fairfax County, Virginia, adding that the perverted teenager had committed this disturbing act multiple times before.