Man Threw Girlfriend's Cat Down Garbage Chute, Was Jealous Of The Pet

A man pleaded guilty to deliberately throwing his girlfriend’s cat down a seven-story garbage chute in Sydney, Australia, on Monday.

The court heard that the 21-year-old unnamed man lived with his girlfriend in an apartment. On April 27, 2018, the couple returned home and started searching for the cat after it was not to be seen in the apartment. They found the animal at the bottom of the apartment complex’s garbage chute. The cat was so severely injured that two-thirds of its tail had to be removed in order for it to survive. The court heard the cat, named Hibala, was in the man’s care when the incident took place. The accused confessed to the crime and said he took the step as he was jealous that the feline was getting more attention from his girlfriend.

In another incident in June the same year, the man's girlfriend, who was not in the country at the time, asked the man to take the feline to the vet after she noticed a cut on the nose in one of the pictures he sent to her. He, however, refused. Her friends then took the cat to the vet when it was revealed that the animal had injuries to his eye, ear and nose and also fractured bones in the left paw. The cat underwent surgery and was hospitalized for six days.

The man pleaded guilty to both the offense Monday. While he was fined $3,000 for throwing the cat down the garbage chute, he had to pay an additional $3,000 for refusing to take the animal to the vet. He was also banned from owning any animal for the next 10 years.

During sentencing, the judge said, “I don’t know what to say to [the defendant]. I have no idea what to say to a person who places a cat in a garbage chute. The early guilty plea is the only thing keeping [the defendant] out of jail.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals New South Wales Chief Inspector Scott Myers said, “Hurting an animal out of pure jealousy, one that belongs to and is loved by your partner no less, and letting it suffer over a prolonged period of time is a shocking display of callousness.”

The cat is now with its owner and she has moved into another apartment.