Three convicted after firing rat from cannon

THREE men have been convicted of animal cruelty after posting a video showing a live rat being fired out of a makeshift cannon.

The men pleaded guilty to causing the unnecessary suffering of a rat after a “horrific” video was posted online showing the animal being hit on the head and forced into an air compressor.

The footage, which was viewed more than 5,000 times on Facebook, then shows the rat shoot out of the compressor into the air and over a neighbouring building.

Appearing at Merthyr Magistrates’ Court on Monday, Shaun Mark Fussell, 29, of Treharris, Lee Edward Jones, 42, of Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, and William Christopher Morgan, 36, of Mountain Ash, received a 12-month community order following the incident.

The men were also ordered to pay £360 costs and a £85 victim surcharge each and carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.

After issuing a public appeal for information earlier this year, the RSPCA said they received “scores” of calls from people as far as Australia to help track down the men.

The court heard the rat had been caught in a tyrefitting shop using pliers before being forced into a pipe and shot metres into the air.

Distressing footage from the video also shows the men appear to pull the animal from a waste bin by its tail before running outside laughing.

RSPCA inspector Gemma Cooper said: “This was such a horrific case where this rat suffered unnecessarily.

“Even though some people see rats as vermin they are still protected by law in certain circumstances. They are still living creatures that feel fear and pain.

“These men purposely attached a gas compressor and put the rat in a tube and fired it. They knew exactly what they were doing.

“We never found the rat, but it surely suffered extremely from the horrifying incident.”