A Lincolnshire man claimed his kitten, who had suffered a serious lip injury, was a stray found by his dog.
When questioned by the RSPCA, Lovelle Paharsingh (D.o.B 13/2/2003) of Heneage Road, Grimsby, denied he was the owner of the pet and said his dog had picked up the injured feline on a walk. But one of the charity’s inspectors recalled having seen the kitten at the defendant’s home a week before.
The young cat was suffering from a lip degloving injury and needed to undergo surgery to reattach it. She was also underweight with a low body condition score of three out of nine.
Paharsingh was banned from keeping felines for eight years when he was sentenced at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on August 16.
Paharsingh pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to the kitten under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
The court was told the defendant contacted the RSPCA claiming he had found an injured kitten and denied he was the owner. Her lip injury, according to a vet, was most likely to have been caused by her having had all her fur shaved and her whiskers cut.
RSPCA inspector Laura Barber, who attended at Paharsingh’s home on October 29, 2021, told the court that the defendant claimed he was walking his dog in Weelsby woods when the canine returned with the kitten in his mouth.
“He said the kitten was injured and there was a lot of blood which he cleaned up. He then said the kitten had pooped all over his flat and he couldn’t keep it, so he called the RSPCA to come and collect it,” said inspector Barber.
But one of the inspector’s colleagues, inspector Natalie Hill, recalled attending the same property about a separate matter more than a week before, when Paharsingh showed her a black and white kitten matching the same description. Images posted on the defendant’s Facebook were also found showing what appeared to be the same kitten.
Parharsingh said that he had a kitten, called Oreo, with similar markings and colouring, who was staying at his grandmother’s home in Sheffield. He said he would arrange to bring her to his home at a later date so that inspector Barber could view her. But he failed to do so, claiming that his dog was “going to eat her”.
A vet confirmed the kitten at the defendant’s property had suffered a degloving injury to her bottom lip, which was so severe the lip was hanging off and required surgery to reattach it.
“The kitten would have struggled to eat with a lip injury of this type. It was most likely caused by clippers which had been used to shave her. There was no medical or welfare need that was apparent that would have meant shaving the fur and cutting off her whiskers,” said the vet.
The defendant later admitted in court that the kitten was his. In mitigation, the hearing was told that it had been a case of “incompetent care”.
As well as the disqualification, magistrates fined the defendant £270 and told him to pay a victim surcharge of £34. They also imposed a deprivation order on his ownership of the kitten. Fortunately, she is now being cared for by the RSPCA who will find a new home for her.
