Alex Trelinski
AN ELCHE man has avoided going to prison despite brutally shooting two cats dead with his hunting rifle.
The 54-year-old Elche council employee fired several shots at a group of urban cats in the San Crispin district of the city on September 26 in an area managed by the CES Gatos charity.
He was working at a council maintenance workhouse on Avenida de Novelda and plead guilty at his trial to ‘deliberately wanting to kill the cats’.
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One of the animals called Rondi died immediately while Bombon passed away at a veterinary clinic.
The man was given a one-year suspended jail term on the proviso that he does not reoffend for two years and that he attends an animal protection training programme.
A statement from CES Gatos said “Once again justice has shown which side it is on:- on the side of impunity, on the side of mistreatment, on the side of cruelty.”
“What we have received is a derisory, insulting sentence that minimises the gravity of what happened,” it added.
The man’s shotgun was confiscated by the Elche court and he has been banned from possessing weapons for 28 months.
The cat killer was also ordered to pay all legal costs.
In addition, private prosecutions were brought on behalf of CES Gatos and two other local animal charities- Protectora Baix Vinalopo and Felinos lo Morant.
The unnamed defendant- with no previous criminal record- agreed a €2,000 compensation sum for CES Gatos, and €1,000 to the other two groups.
He also refunded the vet and cremation costs of the dead cats paid by CES Gatos- totalling €340.
None of these measures satisfied CES Gatos who said that ‘we feel sad, angry, betrayed, but we will continue to make our voice heard’.
