DOJ seeks review over cat killer's 'light' jail term
Animal rights activist welcomes action by Justice Department over ‘inadequate’ 3-month sentence
The Department of Justice has applied for a review of a magistrate's three-month jail sentence that was imposed on a cat strangler last week.
The department said it filed the application last Saturday, a day after the Tsuen Wan Court sentenced construction worker An Haizhou to three months' jail for his act of cruelty to an animal.
An, 48, was charged after he tied a nylon string around the neck of a cat at Yi Pei Square Playground in Tsuen Wan on May 30.
The court heard the man dragged the cat back and forth using the string, and hit it with a wooden stick when it tried to run towards him. A witness saw him pick up the body of the dying cat and put it into a plastic bag, which he later folded "like an envelope" and left on a bench.
In court, An denied hurting the cat and claimed he was drunk at the time of the incident. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was convicted after a trial.
But a number of animal rights activists criticised the three-month jail sentence as being "disgracefully light", suggesting that the judiciary gave little weight to the loss of a life.