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Comments
I agree that the determination of what is and isn’t ok is cultural, and in some cultures doing what he’s done may be ok, and fishing may not be. Personally, I don’t eat meat, find animal cruelty to be disgusting in all forms and include the meat industry in that. But I also recognise that culturally and socially there is a difference between cruelty to a domesticated pet, and, say, farming or fishing. I don’t like any of them, but there is a difference.
I am not a fan of fishing bit I can't compare it to what I saw Zouma do today.
There is simply has no defence but unless there is clear legal jeopardy, I do not think this rises to the level of losing his livelihood.
For me, I would not let him anywhere near an animal shelter but would ensure he is heavily fined with local animal charities benefiting.
He needs to actively go beyond an apology and be seen to be not just donating to animal welfare institutions but actively participating. Maybe then he will genuinely be truly remorseful when he sees a bit of hardship and the results of peoples cruelty and neglect of animals
See those justifying and trying to move one but I'm not one, he hasn't "made a mistake" he has drop kicked a domestic pet with intention
Buying a domestic pet gives you a moral responsibility to look after that animal and provide it food and safety
And he wasn't play fighting, he kicked the hell out of that cat....hes lucky that it didn't sustain injuries because if it did, and it very could have, no one would be defending him
And if that cat turned around after getting kicked and lashed out at him or God forbid his kid....which after getting assaulted it had every right to..... then guess what? The cat probably gets put down
There is a reason that they've increased the max animal cruelty sentence to 5 years is because its not been taken seriously enough
And I'm shocked by the attitude by some posters and other fans that have basically confirmed why the extended sentence was justified, it is just blown over
Also pleading ignorance is not tolerable its 2022 and if you want to be a resident here you should abide by the social standards of this country
You take on the responsibility of being a domestic animal you are essentially having a child and if you drop kicked a child you'd be in prison for a very very long time (ok it's not quite the same but the point remians)
As of today be has not been punished and all this charity work etc. Its not going to happen, met have already said they won't investigate (again a joke but that sums up the met atm) and the club should not play him untill the internal investigation is concluded
If this is how we've dealt with it "internally" it's a disgrace as we've basically given him a slap on the hand
Is that going to change him
The club care more about top 4 then they do animal abuse and I think a vast majority of our fans do as well
So comments like lets just move on etc. After 24 hours prove to me that it will just be wiped hinder the carpet
We don't know what the club have done, or plan to do, by way of punishment, so it's not fait to say it's been swept under the carpet. Personally, I don't think he should have played last night, but he did and there's nothing we can do about that.
Like Joe Cole said on BT last night, there's no precedent for this that anyone can remember in the game, so the club probably don't know what's proportionate. There have been calls from some for him to be sacked and imprisoned, whereas others have said he's apologised and that should be enough. You only have to look at the debate on here to see how difficult a position the club have been put in; there'll be uproar from some if they just fine him a weeks wages, and uproar from others if his contract is terminated.
We can all agree that what he did was abhorrent, and I've no doubt the club will discipline him, but I suspect whatever they do wont be enough for some people, but I honestly don't know what is 'enough' for an employer.
I was out yesterday and spent some of the time thinking about catgate ,how horrible it was and what should happen. Whilst musing I managed a few fish which were all caught using barbless hooks, brought in with a landing net, laid down on on a soft landing mat, unhooked without any damage( see hooks above) and returned to the water via the same landing net. Then I came home and took my much loved dog for a run in the woods.
There is no comparison with that and what Zouma did.
there is something in the press today about him donating £500K which is a substantial amount for most people but probably not a big issue for him.
As abhorent the video is, I do not like the trial by media which is so common these days. Let the authorities do their jobs and the club can decide what to do from there.
I'll go further though and say that not just Zouma but the club should show initiative and be publicly seen trying to make the effort in the animal welfare arena to help and contribute. We've had enough negative publicity in the past and, as a supporter, I dont want my team being sneared at by others over something an individual of that club has done. I hope they actually do something beyond just their statement
I guess the club will also fine him so he could easily lose out on a substantial bit of income.
Regardless of this, though, the club need to make sure he learns his lesson. I doubt they will have any reason to stop paying his wages for good and they won't sack him, as that would mean they blow the transfer money up the chimney.
Zouma should get himself a PR specialist and work with him to get himself out of this mess.
It is not a good piece of PR on his side but in my opinion we'd lose a lot of good footballers if a footballer was forced to end their career everytime they misbehaved. Tax eviction, drink driving, flouting covid regulations - all of these things happen but the players still play.
Social media has a lot to answer for as most idiots on there believe every word they read and them embellish them.
https://chng.it/rTXDdcrq
Instances of a reaction to something an animal or pet has done I should imagine are not rare. I know of at least two instances I can recall.
In one about 25 years ago my friend kicked his dog after it did its business on the train of his daughter’s wedding dress as they were preparing to leave for the church.
In another, a different friends wife grabbed hold of her cat and threw it after it had a) torn into the leather of her new sofa whilst also tearing her passport 2 days before they were due to go on holiday.
In neither case was the animal hurt and to my knowledge nothing ever happened again and both died of old age.
My point is we have no idea what occurred leading up to these instances which caused a momentary loss of temper or whether it was premeditated purely for his brother to film and post. Nor do we know if the laughter was at the expense of Zouma because he had lost his temper which may or may not be out of character or at the actual kicking instance.
I still can’t get my head around what his brother was actually filming in the first place.
In 2019 the RSPCA investigated 93,362 reports of animal cruelty.
They brought prosecutions in approx 1500 cases.
They set the bar very high for prosecutions - serious cases of mass cruelty/exploitation AND/OR people who resist all attempts at education and advice. The latter is the first step the RSPCA take.
Based on the criteria they set out, and have applied consistently (as is their stated aim) I can't ever see a prosecution.
No matter how many petitions are launched.
Nothing about harming the animal.