Macau student maltreats another cat in Taipei

Hundreds of protesters arrived yesterday at the Taipei District Court as a university student from Macau went on trial for allegedly torturing a stray cat to death last year. The student was also accused of killing another cat earlier this month.
The protesters were seeking tougher penalties for animal abuse under the Animal Protection Act as the student, surnamed Chen, admitted that he abused and killed the cat, known as “Big Orange”, last year.
The defendant who is set to graduate from the National Taiwan University, argued in court that he suffers from mental illness, which causes impulsive behavior, Taiwanese Central News Agency reported.
Taiwan’s court has raised the defendant’s bail to NT200,000 (MOP51,000) from NT50,000 (MOP12,800) the terms of which restrict the troubled student from leaving the region.
His actions were caught on a surveillance camera in December and showed authorities the exact location where he had hidden the animal’s body in the campus of the National Taiwan University.
The incident sparked outrage in Taiwan, attracting some 14,000 signatures in an online petition which demanded that the university expel the student.
The Times previously reported that the student begged for forgiveness from the residents in the neighborhood and expressed the hope that the incident would raise awareness of the safety of stray animals.
However after being charged for allegedly torturing the cat in May, he was again linked to the disappearance of another cat kept by a restaurant in the city’s Wenshan district earlier this month.
He then admitted to authorities during the interrogation that he had beaten the cat to death and abandoned the body in the Xindian River.