Man gets 6 months in jail for slaughtering cat, shown on Net

October 21, 2002

10/21/2002

Kyodo News

FUKUOKA, Oct. 21 --

The Fukuoka District Court on Monday sentenced a 27-year-old man from

Hiroshima Prefecture to 6 months in prison with a suspension of three

years for violation of the Law Concerning the Protection and Control of

Animals by slaughtering a cat in May and showing it on the Internet.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Atsushi Tomita said Jun Matsubara,

unemployed, committed " a vicious crime " for showing the slaughter on an

Internet bulletin board and said it brought deep psychological shock to

many people.

However, Tomita also said, " After the incident, the privacy of even

the defendant's family was made public and they were humiliated by

various kinds of harassment, " adding that the defendant is already under

sanctions that have gone beyond normal social sanctions.

Regarding the incident, the Fukuoka prefectural police and Tokyo

Metropolitan Police Department referred the case file to the public

prosecutors. The Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office arrested and

indicted Matsubara, who denied the allegations.

According to the ruling, Matsubara, who lived in Fukuoka at that time,

used scissors to cut off the tail, left ear and other parts of a stray

cat at his home on the evening of May 6 and into the next day. He then

strangled the cat using string and threw it into a river near his home.

Public sentiment on the case has been strong, with the Fukuoka

District Public Prosecutors Office receiving some 3,000 letters and

e-mail messages calling for harsh punishment of the defendant.

Folder Name: Asia Conservation Cat

Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 98

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