I Feel Sorry For Any Cats In The Care Of This Woman...

Joe Purvis took his Maine Coon cat, named Indico, to a vet in November last year and she was found to have three fractures to her head. The 12-week-old pet, bought for £50 several months earlier on Facebook, also had an open wound on the top of her head, and lost a leg while in Purvis' care.

He's exactly the sort of moron you'd imagine:

Sara Pratt, prosecuting, said the defendant had taken the kitten to vets the previous September and she had such severe injuries to her leg that they had no choice but to amputate it.

On November 9, Purvis then took her again to Coldicott & Kingsway Veterinary Clinic in Tewkesbury and was described by staff as smelling “overwhelmingly of cannabis”.

The vets did the responsible thing.

Purvis said to vets he “couldn’t cope with such a demanding animal” and that she was the “first and last” pet he would ever own.

A representative from the RSPCA went to Purvis’ home later the same day and he agreed to sign over the cat to them and he was later interviewed at Malvern Police Station.

And then this presented a dilemma; how on earth to get him out of such an open and shut case? Enter his defence.

Judith Kenny, defending, said ... she had seen pictures of the cat while she was living with Purvis and it was “happy and contented”.

You can tell that from a picture, eh?

She said her client had bought the pet a climbing structure and noticed she couldn’t climb properly so took her to vets on September 13 last year. A cat owner herself, Ms Kenny said it is often the case that once a young cat goes through such trauma as a major operation and re-adjustment to life, they are “never the same”.

It's not often the case at all. As a cat owner (did the magistrates check this, I wonder?) you should know.

“The reality is, then she couldn’t defecate properly in her litter tray anymore,” she explained, and went on to say she believes Purvis was not properly told how to look after her after the amputation and “struggled with her”.

Blame the vets, eh? Well, I suppose I'd be desperate too if I was stuck with this case.

Referring to the day in November in which he struck the cat, Ms Kenny said: “Only he knows the truth of the matter.”

“Why would he take the kitten to the vets and admit what he had done if he didn’t have some compassion towards her?”

Because he's a thick drug-addled cretin?

She said he became agitated at the vets because he “couldn’t afford to pay anymore” fees and had a hospital appointment later that morning. She said he is often “impulsive” and “that’s part of his difficulties”.

Yes, his 'difficulties'. Not the difficulties experienced by every living thing unfortunate enough to come into contact with him/

At the last hearing in February, Ms Kenny had said her client suffers from mental health problems and magistrates had ordered a probation report, including details of medication, to be compiled.

The medication he presumably should be taking rather than his cannabis?

The solicitor went on to criticise the coverage of the previous hearing in the Worcester News and the subsequent comments on Facebook.

“There has been absolute vilification of him in the press. When I read some of the comments, I just couldn’t believe some individuals can’t see that there’s two sides to a story.”

You have to have some brass neck to whinge about this, don't you?

Charles Townsend, chair of the bench, said: “The injuries are horrific and because of that there’s no doubt in both of our minds that you have crossed the custody threshold. There’s high culpability and greater harm.”

Good! So you'll be...

Oh.

Purvis was given 14 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

*sighs*