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Animal Abuse (Cat) by an under 18s (self.LegalAdviceUK)

catcoffee-sis が 投稿

My sister (13) and her friend were told by out mum that a cat keeps coming into out garden to ''do its business'' and told them it was disgusting.

My sister and her friend (12/13) decided to try and take it into their own hands when when home alone they saw the cat our garden. They made 2 cups of coffee and threw it on the cat, and recorded it on snapchat. The cat was running in pain in the video.

I asked them to take it down after I saw the clip 15 minutes later, and have told them never to do this again. I have been sent a copy of the video as proof they only threw 2 cups and the cat was in our garden (would it be classed as a pest now?) ?

1) They are under 18, can they face legal prosecution over this? What will probably happen if they get caught? If they self-confess the punishment will be lower right?

2) If not, will our mum face anything as she left them home alone?

The law says this

https://www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/endcruelty/changingthelaw/whatwechanged/animalwelfareact

need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

The animal was 100% in our garden, and the girls are under 18, so is it technically the owners fault for failing to watch their cat? (Going into other peoples gardens may mean the cat is attacked by a dog or may fall off a fence)

We don't know where the cat is right now, and I don't want my sister to face any legal trouble. I think she said maybe 3/4 other people have seen the video (but it is now gone from snapchat and there were no screenshots).

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[–]multijoy 6 ポイント7 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Assuming the coffee was hot enough to scald, they've committed the offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, contrary to s4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

The animal was 100% in our garden, and the girls are under 18, so is it technically the owners fault for failing to watch their cat?

Of course it isn't. Why would you think it was?

  • Your sister and her friend are over the age of criminal responsibility.
  • They know that hot drinks will scald, and they know that it hurts.
  • They know that doing this to an animal will hurt it.

The concern is why they chose the course of action they did. Why hot coffee? Why not a hosepipe? Why not loud noises?

What they need is a proper bollocking. Whether your parents do that, or whether the police do it, is for you to decide.

Practically speaking, if nobody admits to watching the video, then a prosecution is more or less impossible.

[–]AR-Legal 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

As OP has been shown the video twice, presumably by two different people, there is every risk that someone may report the matter to the RSPCA. And from that point, prosecution is very possible!

[–]WG47 5 ポイント6 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Your sister and her friend 100% deserve to be punished for this.

A bucket of cold water, perhaps. Or a skoosh from the garden hose. Two cups of coffee? What the fuck?

And then you try to blame the cat's owner? If the cat falls off a fence, that's the cat's fault. They're pretty good at landing on their feet, and even if they fall awkwardly they'll get some bruises at worst. As for dogs, cats know to stay away from animals they don't know. They'll trust humans though, and now because of your sister and her friend, the cat has suffered both psychological and physical harm.

The fact that they thought it was funny and filmed it then snapchatted it is even worse. They weren't doing this to scare away the cat, they abused an animal to amuse themselves.

[–]Macky9326 2 ポイント3 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Wow, just wow, the fact you are trying to justify it is horrible, I hope they get punished, that's horrible.

[–]AR-Legal 0 ポイント1 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Out of interest, psychopaths tend to have a history of abusing animals. They don't always brag about the fact by publishing their abuse on Snapchat.

Just thought you might like to know.

Other than that, yes they can be prosecuted at that age for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. And the RSPCA have a very "enthusiastic " attitude to cases, especially with video evidence.