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Man jailed for subjecting cat to
violence
A man from Wallesey has been jailed
after his cat suffered a series of painful injuries which raised vets'
suspicions. Kristian Murphy (DOB 01/06/1992), of Mill Lane, Wallesey, appeared
at Wirral Magistrates' Court, on Monday, 4 September 2017, facing an allegation of
causing unnecessary suffering to a male black cat named Bagheera, between 16
August 2016 and 26 September 2016, by failing to exercise reasonable care and
supervision and subjecting the cat to non accidental injury which was likely to
cause unnecessary suffering, contrary to Section 4 (1) of the Animal Welfare Act
2006.
Murphy has since pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison and banned from
keeping animals for 5 years.
The RSPCA was contacted in September 2016, by Mr Murphy's veterinary
practice when 5 month old Bagheera was brought to the vets with what
Inspector Anthony Joynes described as 'catastrophic injuries.'
Bagheera had previously been brought to the vets on 16 August 2016 with a broken
lower canine and acting 'drunk' and disorientated which Murphy said was
due to him falling off the sofa. On 24 September 2016 he was brought in again with a
lame hind left leg, swollen face and bloodied nostrils which the owner said had
occurred after a fall.
On 26 September 2016, he was brought in for the last time with new injuries and sadly
due to the severity of these injuries Bagheera died on the vet table before
treatment could be given.
The black cat had a fractured left and right thigh bone, fractured pubic bone,
dislocation of the ribs and a trauma on the right side of his head.
It was at this point that the RSPCA was contacted and Inspector Joynes seized
the body. A postmortem confirmed the concerns of the vets that the injuries had
been caused by numerous acts of physical violence.
Inspector Joynes said:- "This kitten was completely vulnerable and put his
whole trust in him and he abused that trust by inflicting horrific violence on
him.
It's really upsetting for me as I'll never know exactly what happened behind
closed doors and it's so frustrating when you can't help the animal involved
because sadly Bagheera's injuries were so severe that he died before we even got
there.
Time and again Murphy presented Bagheera to the vets for treatment which may
shock some people, but it is actually quite common in cases of non accidental
injury.
He always had an explanation, but the vets felt that these injuries were not
consistent given the history and when investigated by a specialist on
non accidental injury he found that Bagheera's injuries had been a result of
physical abuse at the hands of Murphy. We are pleased that the outcome
demonstrates how serious the judge deemed this case to be by issuing a ban and a
jail sentence and hopefully this will prevent any other animals suffering as a
result."
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