A man with a history of pet abuse (despite him admitting to the judge that he actually likes animals) has been convicted again. Krishnasamy Kaliyappan, 50, was slapped with a $16,000 fine yesterday after being found guilty of animal cruelty crimes — he threw his family’s pet cat and kitten out from the kitchen window of his third-floor flat in 2017.
This, after he was previously fined $5,000 for throwing two dogs out of the bedroom window in 2012, Yahoo News Singapore reported. He served five weeks in jail in lieu of paying the fine back then.
In both cases, the animals turned out relatively okay, with the dogs unharmed and the kitten suffering a minor cut to its hind leg. The cat that was thrown downstairs, however, ran off and was never able to be found.
The man lived with his wife in an HDB apartment in Boon Lay, where the latter was the main caretaker of their two cats and a kitten. On July 1, 2017, when the wife had gone to sleep, Krishnasamy returned home drunk after a night out drinking. For no apparent reason, he grabbed the cat and the kitten that had been kept in a cage and threw them out his kitchen window.
The court heard that a passerby had been walking home when he saw the cats being thrown down from Krishnasamy’s window, Yahoo reported. The cat ran away, while the kitten was rescued and adopted by the passerby.
“While the witness was unable to see anyone committing the act, our investigation identified Krishnasamy as the perpetrator,” wrote the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority in a press release. “We found the kitten to be healthy and uninjured.”
The man asked for leniency from the judge, stating that he was drunk when he committed the offenses. When asked by the judge if he liked animals, Krishnasamy said that he did.
That might be hard to believe, considering that he was convicted for doing the same thing to two pet dogs that belonged to his son back in December 2012. According to The Straits Times, he had been drinking beer in his room when the dogs started to bark at a fast-food deliveryman.
The AVA prosecutor labeled Krishnasamy a “recalcitrant offender” for his continued abuse of animals.
The man was also banned from owning a pet for one year, and if he fails to cough up the $16,000 fine, he’ll have to serve eight weeks in jail.
“We will take enforcement action against anyone who has committed an act of animal cruelty and will press for deterrent sentences if warranted,” asserted the AVA — the matter of animal abuse being a ubiquitous cause of concern right now in light of the Platinium Dogs Club case.
“Individuals who commit animal cruelty are liable to a maximum fine of $15,000 and/or 18 months jail term for first convictions.”
