West Ham’s Kurt Zouma has pled guilty to kicking and slapping his cat.
A Snapchat video of the Premier League footballer drop-kicking his Bengal cat emerged in February 2022 – with another disturbing clip showing him slapping the animal’s face.
He has been charged on two counts under the Animal Welfare Act, and is currently on trial at Thames Magistrates Court.
Zouma’s younger brother Yoan, who filmed the clip, has also been charged and pled guilty to an offence.
Many will be wondering if the cat seen in the video is okay, and if Zouma’s cats are still in his care.
Here is what we know.
Does Kurt Zouma still have his cats?
No, Kurt Zouma does not still have either of his two Bengal cats.
The cats are currently in the care of the The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RPSCA).
On February 9, 2022, West Ham said Zouma had ‘willingly complied with the steps taken in the initial stage of the process, including delivering his family’s two cats to the RSPCA for assessment’.
The club also fined him £250,000 – the maximum amount – and Zouma issued an apology.
He said: ‘I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video. I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.
‘They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again.’
The vet who assessed the cats said there were ‘no remaining signs of injuries’ to the felines when he examined them – but added that being hit and kicked would have caused fear or distress.
In his statement, he said: ‘In my opinion, the force of the kicking into the abdomen of a cat and the slapping of the cat to the head, both of which were with force, as seen in the video recording would have without any doubt in my mind have cause soft tissue trauma, pain and discomfort to the cat (or cats) on the day but any evidence of that soft tissue trauma would be very unlikely to have been found three days later.’
Hazel Stevens, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told the court that the cruelty seen in the video was ‘shocking’ and ‘disgusting’.
What will happen to Kurt Zouma’s cats?
The cats will not return to Kurt Zouma as he signed them over to the RSPCA in court.
The animal welfare charity said that the cats ‘will soon begin their search for a new home’.
This means that they very well might be up for rehoming in the near future.
MORE : West Ham captain Mark Noble called team meeting to ‘have it out’ over Kurt Zouma cat-attack video
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