TwitterA teenager who was filmed slapping a cat while his friends laughed has been arrested.
Video footage emerged on Twitter of a young man slapping a poor cat who was sitting on a wall, and is believed to have been filmed in Portsmouth.
It shows the 15-year-old approach the ginger cat, who leans in assuming he is going to be stroked, before the boy cruelly punches him in the face, prompting the cat to jump off the wall.
TwitterIn the background, you can hear the teen’s friends laughing, and the clip was later posted to Snapchat with the caption ‘Geezer’.
The three-second clip prompted outrage from animal lovers when it was shared to Twitter, and the teen from the video has now been arrested by Hampshire Police under the Animal Welfare Act of 2006.
It was shared to the social media site by Jai Bailey, who wrote:
Name and shame f*cking little pr*ck #Portsmouth.
The video received more than 1 million views from furious social media users, attracting the attention of the RSPCA.
One upset Twitter user wrote: ‘Turns my stomach. I hope people post updates on this. I want to know some justice has been done, while a second added: ‘Many of this generation are out of touch with what it takes to be a good human being. Lost their way for whatever reason and it is very sad. Imagine being cruel to an animal makes him feel strong.’
TwitterConfirming the arrest, a spokesperson for Hampshire Police said:
We can confirm we are investigating an incident in Portsmouth in which a cat was hit in the face.
We have received a report of the incident, and we are also aware of a related video that has been circulated widely on social media.
An investigation is underway to establish the exact circumstances of what happened.
We have also been in touch with the RSPCA.
Today our officers arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
He is currently in police custody.
Anyone with information, including anyone who directly witnessed this incident, should call police on 101 quoting the crime reference number 44190180705.
As per The Portsmouth News, a spokesperson for the RSPCA added:
We are aware of the clip being circulated on social media and encourage anyone with information to contact us on 0300 1234 999.
It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to harm such an innocent creature.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected].
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.