Kaohsiung police yesterday searched for a man surnamed Tsai (蔡), who has been accused of beating a cat to death, after a video of the killing was posted online, sparking angry reactions online.
Police said a woman surnamed Huang (黃) led them to the residence where she and Tsai had lived until she moved out two weeks earlier.
Tsai was not at home, but Huang found her pet cat, named Cha Cha (茶茶), which appeared to have died after having been beaten as shown in the video, they said.
With the video as evidence and Huang to identify the perpetrator, police said they intend to question Tsai regarding breaches of the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法). If convicted he faces one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of NT$5 million (US$162,464).
Huang said she had been in a relationship with Tsai for four years, during which time they had moved in together, but that after their differences caused rifts and Tsai remained unemployed for some time, she decided to break up with him and move out.
“I left my belongings and Cha Cha in the house, planning to return one final time to get everything, but it was too late,” Huang said.
She had installed a miniature camera to check up on Cha Cha while she was at work and the camera showed Tsai grabbing her cat with both hands and slamming it on the floor at least seven times, she said.
The cat got away once, but Tsai found it and threw it to the floor again, she added.
Huang said she posted the video, allegedly from a few days ago, on the Baoliao Commune Web site, which caused a furor, with some online posters saying Tsai was depraved for beating a helpless cat.
However, she said some people on the Web site blamed her for leaving the cat behind, saying that she should have known her ex-partner might take out his anger on the cat.
Police yesterday said they would visit the home of Tsai’s parents — he had changed his telephone number and not returned home — and try other means of tracking him down so that they could question him about the case.
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