A suspected cat killer was arrested on Thursday in Thessaloniki and charged with intentionally killing a kitten in the center of the city back in August.
The 39-year-old man was identified by CCTV footage.
The case file on animal abuse will be submitted to a prosecutor. In addition to the criminal charges, the police imposed an administrative fine of thirty thousand euros.
“We thank everyone who rushed to provide information and help find the perpetrator of the heinous act,” the representative of the Thessaloniki Animal Rights Organization “Noiazomai,” Evi Kalaitzidou, told Proto Thema, a Greek newspaper published every Sunday.
Kalaitzidou was among the first who helped bring the abuse and killing of the kitten to public attention.
Cat killer in Thessaloniki stomps on kitten mercilessly
The footage recorded by security cameras of a store on Ermou Street in Thessaloniki showed the moment when the suspect wearing a colored shirt and hat approaches the kitten and stomps on it mercilessly.
He is clearly seen looking around to see if any passersby may have seen him before leaving the scene.
In 2020, the Greek Parliament unanimously approved a new law that makes serious animal abuse a crime that can lead to a maximum ten-year prison sentence.
According to the provisions, people who mistreat animals will also have to pay “a fine ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 euros.” The minimum prison term will be one year.
Fines are also being increased for other forms of animal abuse, such as abandoning pets and a range of acts that compromise the well-being of animals. The law defines abuse as “poisoning, hanging, burning, mutilating animals.”
In 2021, Greece approved a new law on pet ownership which PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said will create rules so that no animal “will be abandoned or abused.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
