Man in France beat 20 cats to death with wooden plank

A YOUNG man in western France who allegedly tortured and killed dozens of animals over the festive holiday period has been arrested, bringing an end to a month-long crime spree.

For weeks, residents of Montreuil-Juigné near Angers have been reporting the disappearance of their pets.

When the number of missing cats rose, the local gendarmerie launched an investigation, while the mayor and animal shelters issued alerts, warning cat owners to keep their pets indoors.

“The Cat Rescue Association has been informed of 48 hours of worrying disappearances, poisonings and serious mistreatment of cats,” reads a December Facebook post from the association.

“There has been talk of more than 20 cats over less than a month. We ask people who have a cat to confine them, until further information.”

On Dec 22, private surveillance cameras from a residential home captured a man in his 20s luring a cat on the street with a torch during the night, before grabbing the animal and stuffing it in his bag, local newspaper Sud Ouest said.

At the suspect’s home in the same town, police found the body of a cat, later identified as 13-year-old Calinette by its owners, that had been allegedly beaten with a wooden plank.

While the suspect admitted killing at least 20 cats, Éric Bouillard, the Angers public prosecutor, said that “the investigation is still ongoing”.

Autopsies are being carried out on the bodies of at least three cats.

In France, abuse that leads to the death of an animal carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£65,000).

Over three weeks in 2022, the town of Citry in Seine-et-marne lost nine cats, spurring locals to hang warning signs that read “Be careful, a cat killer lives in the village”.

Police opened an investigation. In 2017, more than 200 cats at a seaside resort in south-west France were killed in an apparent mass poisoning, leaving the tongues blue and residents in shock.

And in 2020, a 39-year-old man from Vesoul in eastern France was convicted of having stolen, tortured and killed cats. The serial cat killer, who was a known drug user, admitted stealing cats using a leash, then stabbing them repeatedly, or beating them to death with either an iron bar or by throwing them against a radiator.