Anger over £300 fine for woman who drowned cat

Published on Tuesday 22 May 2007 00:16

ANIMAL rights campaigners last night condemned the £300 fine handed out to a woman who drowned her neighbour's cat in a revenge attack.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) said Juliana Bell should have faced a psychiatric assessment and possibly a jail term for the offence.

Dumfries Sheriff Court fined Bell, 27, after hearing that she stole black-and-white cat Jasper, owned by neighbour Sarah Redden, from the common stairway and held the animal in a water-filled container until it drowned.

Ms Redden later found the cat's body dumped in a plastic bag a mile away on the bank of the River Nith, Dumfries.

The court heard that Bell had been annoyed by late-night noise from her neighbour and by the cat urinating on her doorstep, and killed the animal in a revenge attack.

The SSPCA spokeswoman said: "What she did was absolutely premeditated and I'm not sure this sentences reflects the seriousness of the crime."

The spokeswoman added the cat would have taken a considerable time to die and would have suffered a "horrendous" end.

She added: "People need to be concerned about this kind of behaviour - this is someone who is out of control and can't deal with issues without resorting to violence."

The animal charity cited the example of some US states, where a conviction for cruelty to animals is followed by assessment by a psychiatrist. This practice derives from the belief that cruelty to animals can be an indication of later violence against people.

Bell, of Dumfries, agreed in evidence that she had problems with the neighbours and claimed the cat regularly made a mess outside her door.

However, she denied killing the animal, claiming she had taken it to the riverside in a holdall and released it unharmed there.

But her partner, Erica Ney, told police Bell had described in "graphic" detail in a phone call how she had killed the cat.

The pet's owner, Sarah Redden, told the court she had quizzed neighbours for five days after Jasper disappeared, and had eventually heard that Ms Ney had been told by Bell that she had killed the cat.

Ms Redden broke down in tears as she told the court how she found Jasper's sodden body in a bag on the riverbank.

The SSPCA said after the verdict: "The court could have asked for a psychiatric assessment and a custodial sentence should have been considered."