A Vancouver man whose brutal assault on his kitten resulted in the pet having to be euthanized has been sentenced to four months in jail.
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A man whose vicious assault on his kitten in the backyard of his Vancouver home resulted in the pet having to be euthanized has been sentenced to four months in jail.
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Yiming Zhu, who was 22 years old at the time of the crime on May 20, 2021, pleaded guilty to one count of willfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to the kitten he had purchased a month earlier.
In the early morning hours of the day of the crime, a neighbor of Zhu’s heard the sounds of an animal in distress and saw Zhu in his backyard kicking a kitten and swinging it repeatedly by its tail.
With each blow, Zhu slammed the kitten’s body against the concrete. He later placed the kitten on the grass in the middle of the yard, put his foot on its head, pressing it to the ground, and lifted its tail with his right hand before walking away.
The neighbor called the police, who arrived to find the kitten alive but barely moving. The kitten was taken to an emergency animal clinic where it was determined that he was critically endangered and too seriously injured to be treated. He was humanely sacrificed.
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The court heard that Zhu, who came to Canada from China at the age of 15 to live with his mother with the aim of finishing school and then attending university, was living alone at the time of the crime and had bought the kitten because he felt isolated and stressed with his studies.
He had never had a kitten before and discovered that not only was he allergic to it, but handling his pet had become a burden for him. Zhu admitted to wanting to punish him.
Zhu, who did not have a criminal record, was evaluated at the Vancouver Regional Forensic Clinic. Although he did not suffer from significant mental illness, it was discovered that he suffered from “adjustment disorder” with mood and behavior disturbances.
In sentencing, Provincial Court Judge Harbans Dhillon said Zhu had inflicted serious injuries on a five-pound kitten, an animal that was totally dependent on him for care, nutrition and protection.
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“In my judgment, Mr. Zhu’s offense consisted of very cruel conduct towards a defenseless animal that was recently placed in his care,” the judge said. “It included multiple acts of aggression, which resulted in very severe trauma. The level of violence is very worrying.”
In addition to jail time, Zhu was banned from owning an animal or bird for 25 years.
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