A woman has been banned from keeping animals for life after killing her pet kitten in a washing machine.
Catherine Young put 12-week-old kitten, Morritz, in the machine on a short washing cycle after he was "naughty" and defecated on the floor of her Clacton-on-Sea home.
The 54-year-old called the vet on June 15 saying that one of her kittens had died, bringing him in later that day, by which point Morritz was cold and stiff with wet fur.
She admitted to the vet that she had also starved both both kittens and withheld water from them for more than 24 hours because of their bad behaviour.
While Bobbitz was found to be clinically healthy, Young was told by the vet that she would not be allowed to take him home and that he would stay at the practice to be looked after.
The vet contacted the RSPCA, who investigated the case.
RSPCA inspector Jessica Dayes, who investigated the case for the animal welfare charity, interviewed Young on June 17.
She said: “No other animals were seen at the address, however empty litter trays, cat litter, a broken cat carrier and a bag of cat food were still in the kitchen.”
They discovered that Young had rubbed the kitten’s face in the faeces to tell her off before putting her in the washing machine on a short cycle to clean her fur.
Young said she had done this before and Morritz had been “fine”.
Young was prosecuted by the RSPCA and pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on October 6.
The RSPCA released the below image to show how callous the crime committed was.
In his witness statement to the court, the vet said: “It is my opinion that the deceased kitten had undergone significant unnecessary suffering by being deliberately placed in a washing machine and then this being placed on a wash cycle.
“The spinning of the machine and the water would have caused significant pain, injury and huge amounts of stress.”
Young, who represented herself, said she had a personality disorder and mental health issues.
As well as being banned from ever owning animals again, she was fined £200 and ordered to pay £145 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge.
Bobbitz has been renamed Gulliver and is doing well in a new home.
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