Man sentenced to jail for abandoning cat

• By Huang Chia-lin and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced a man to 20 days in prison and fined him NT$200,000 for leaving his cat to die in a rented room.

The man, surnamed Kuo (郭), kept the cat with him for years in a rented apartment in Kaohsiung until his tenancy ended in February last year, the ruling said.

When he moved, he left the animal behind, as his new landlord did not allow pets, it said.

Photo: Taipei Times file

Six months later, a real-estate agent, surnamed Hsu (徐) discovered the cat’s remains in the corner of a room, after detecting a terrible odor when bringing a client to see the apartment, the ruling said.

Hsu reported the incident to the Kaohsiung City Animal Protection Office, who investigated the case and confirmed it was Kuo’s cat.

The office reported Kuo to the authorities to be charged with causing injury to an animal resulting in its death, as stipulated in the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), the ruling said.

During a hearing, Kuo confessed to leaving his cat behind.

The judge said that he should have sought assistance from animal protection groups or animal shelters.

Instead, he left the cat in the room without enough food and water or a suitable living environment, resulting in its death, the judge said.

The imprisonment is convertible to a fine, the ruling said, adding that the verdict can be appealed.