(JP) Internet cat torturer gets slap on the wrist

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http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20021021p2a00m0dm010005c.html

 

Internet cat torturer gets slap on the wrist

 

FUKUOKA -- A man who posted photos of a cat he

mutilated on an Internet chat site and incurred the

wrath of pet lovers was handed a suspended prison term

on Monday.

 

Judge Atsushi Tomita of the Fukuoka District Court

harshly criticized 27-year-old Jun Matsubara for his

evil deed when handing down the six-month sentence

suspended for three years.

 

" By showing this cruel act on an Internet site, he

shocked many people, " Tomita said.

 

Matsubara, from Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, severed an

ear and the tail of a cat with scissors and strangled

the animal with a wire at an apartment in Fukuoka

where he lived on May 6 and 7.

 

Under the title, " Live broadcast of a cat slaughter, "

he posted the images of the mutilated cat and reported

what he would severe next on the web site.

 

Judge Tomita found his act vicious because it " could

trigger copycat crimes. "

 

The Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office

received more than 3,000 letters from across the

nation by the end of August demanding severe

punishment.

 

When indicting Matsubara, prosecutors demanded he be

sentenced to six months in prison.

 

Pet lover Motoko Hori came all the way from Hyogo

Prefecture to hear the ruling in Fukuoka.

 

" In France, a person who only hit a dog would probably

be imprisoned, " Hori said. " I think new legal

procedures (more severely punishing animal abusers)

are needed. "

 

After his cruel act came to light in May, the address

of Matsubara's parents in Hiroshima was released on

the Internet.

 

The parents received many harassing calls late in the

night and slanderous bills were distributed in the

area. (Mainichi Shimbun, Oct. 21, 2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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