Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A man was sentenced to 34 months in jail and fined for killing a cat by putting it in a laundry machine in a laundry, the first conviction under a new animal welfare law, the Bernama news agency reported.
The verdict yesterday fined the defendant, K.K. Ganesh, 42, is 40,000 ringgit ($ 9,700) for his crime, which was captured by a television camera and quickly spread on social media. The verdict is subject to appeal.
The footage shows a man opening the door of the electric drying machine while another put the cat inside before closing the door, turning on the machine and leaving the two.
"I hope this verdict will be a lesson for the defendant and for people not to deal harshly with animals," the agency quoted the judge as saying.
Media reports said the defendant's lawyer had sought a reduced sentence because it was Ganesh's first offense and his client was poor.
It is not clear why the two men put the cat in the machine or what happened to the second man shown in the video.