Cat abuser infuriates netizens

By Kang Shin-who

Staff reporter

A video clip showing a 25-year-old woman brutally assaulting her neighbor's cat is causing a huge stir on the Internet, forcing an animal rights group to file a complaint with the police.

She is also suspected of having thrown the cat to its death from the 10th floor of the officetel building where she resides in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul.

The cat was found dead in a flower bed just outside the building on June 16.

The clip taken by a surveillance camera showed the woman, only identified as Chae, savagely kicking and stepping on the cat which was wandering around a corridor of the 10th floor of the building on June 15.

The cat owner, Park Jeong-jun, initially thought the cat had gone missing but was shocked after he saw the clip showing the woman beating his cat.

Park along with a civic group for animal rights filed a complaint with the police accusing the woman of assaulting and killing the cat, named "Eunbi."

The group, "Coexistence of Animal Rights on the Earth (CARE)," plans to take legal action against the assailant. Park So-yeon, president of the CARE said, "We will collect signatures from people and stage a rally in front of the police station to seek punishment of the accused."

"It was difficult to fine those who purposely killed an animal over 1 million won ($832) before. But, a serial killer of dogs was fined 5 million won because of our campaign against generosity to people who are cruel to animals," she said.

Although the group has not secured footage showing that the woman threw the cat out the window or over the balcony, it said it has secured a witness who saw the cat fall.

The suspect, however, is denying that she killed the cat, claiming that she didn't remember what happened on that night as she was drunk.

Police have assigned an investigator and started making inquiries into the case.

'고양이 학대'에 네티즌들 분노

한 20대 여성이 이웃집 고양이를 폭행하는 동영상이 인터넷에 돌아다니면서 엄청난 비난을 받고 있는 가운데, 동물사랑실천협회는 그녀를 경찰에 고발하려고 한다.

채모(25)씨는 서울 서초동의 한 오피스텔 건물 10층에서 고양이를 던져버린 혐의도 받고 있다. 고양이는 16일 꽃밭에 죽은 상태로 발견됐다.

오피스텔에 설치된 CCTV에 가해자가 15일 고양이를 심하게 구타하는 장면이 잡혀있다.

고양이 '은비'의 주인인 박정준(28)씨는 처음에 '은비'가 실종된 줄 알았지만 동영상을 보고 충격을 받았다고 밝혔다.