Animal activists demand maximum sentence for cat killer

Animal activists are calling for the maximum legal penalty to be imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to a string of shocking attacks on cats in Sliema.

In a statement addressed to the courts, the prime minister and justice minister, cat rescue and rehoming NGO Animal Guardians Malta, also known as Cat-Cafe Malta, demanded the “maximum penalty” for Okamura Satoshi, a 31-year-old Japanese national.

An online petition created by the organisation and making the same appeal had lodged over 4,200 signatures at the time of publication.

Meanwhile, writing on Facebook Saturday, the Association for Abandoned Animals implored the courts to hand down the "maximum sentence on all counts. Justice needs to be served".

Satoshi, a Sliema resident who works in iGaming, pleaded guilty Saturday to charges related to harming and killing animals, as well as causing animals to suffer from unnecessary pain and suffering.

Animal Guardians Malta demanded the "highest possible prison sentence and fine” for Satoshi in respect of each attack, and that any jail sentences be served consecutively, while calling for each animal to be “acknowledged as an individual victim of crime”.

The group called for Satoshi to be deported from Malta and banned from re-entering the country upon the completion of any jail sentence and the implementation of stronger enforcement of animal protection measures.

The NGO demanded the case serve as a “landmark moment in Malta 's stance against animal cruelty, reinforcing the zero-tolerance society must have toward violence against animals”.

The group said it was “outraged and heartbroken by the horrific acts” committed by Satoshi, which it said were "only barbaric and senseless, but also expose a deep disregard for life, empathy and the laws that exist to protect innocent animals”.

“We firmly believe that justice must be served — not only for the voiceless victims of this cruelty, but also for the collective conscience of society”, it said.

“Animal cruelty is a serious crime, and allowing perpetrators to escape with lenient punishment sends the wrong message, both domestically and globally”.

The attacks first came to light in June, when a member of the Facebook group ‘Malta Pet Adoption Group’ reported that five stray cats had been found in Sliema dead or injured, and mutilated.

One cat was found with its tail cut off, while another had part of its tongue missing.

CCTV footage obtained by Times of Malta in June showed a man violently slamming a cat to the ground in Sliema in the early hours of the morning. The cat, affectionately known by neighbours as Pupa, was found dead on that spot the following morning.

The next hearing in Satoshi’s case is scheduled for September 15.