Kurt Zouma must do community service. He also had to pay a fine of almost 300,000 euros.
French defender Kurt Zouma was sentenced on Wednesday by British justice to 180 hours of community service for mistreating his cat, after the broadcast of a video that went viral and caused great outrage.
A London court has also banned the 27-year-old West Ham player from owning a cat for five years. Zouma had pleaded guilty to kicking and hitting his pet.
Judge Susan Holdham called his actions “shameful and reprehensible”.
The video of him kicking and hitting his cat with his hand was recorded on February 6 and shared on Snapchat by his younger brother Yoan, 24, also a footballer.
During Zouma’s appearance in court on May 24, prosecutor Hazel Stevens explained that the acts occurred after the cats damaged a chair and assured that after the publication of the video there was “an increase in people hitting cats and They published the images on various social networks.
The player’s two cats were placed in the care of the animal welfare organization RSPCA, which launched a complaint for Kurt and Yoan Zouma to be prosecuted.
West Ham did not suspend the player and even made him play in a match the night the case was uncovered, sparking outrage.
The player was eventually fined the largest possible fine of nearly 300,000 euros ($321,000) by his club and sportswear maker Adidas broke a sponsorship deal with him.
West Ham has assured that, according to the information available to the club, the cats “have not suffered any physical injury.” He later assured that the economic sanction imposed on the player had been donated to animal protection organizations.
–
