Elderly man arrested for 'abusing neighbour's cat until it was bloodied' and throwing it down drain

An elderly man has been arrested after a neighbour discovered horror footage of him allegedly abusing her pet cat.

The unnamed man, who is in his 70s, was nabbed after a woman in her 20s reported her Turkish Angora breed cat had gone missing - and alleged that her neighbour had taken the innocent moggy.

When looking for the puss outside her home in the town of Segamat, Malaysia, the woman found her neighbour poking at something in a drain. When she checked inside the drain herself, she was horrified to find her bedraggled cat dumped down there, its fur matted with dirt and with smears of fresh blood on its muzzle.

The woman lodged another report with the police when she later discovered CCTV footage that allegedly showed the man torturing her cat until it was covered in blood, according to Malaysian media.

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Segamat police chief Superintendent Ahmad Zamry Marinsah said stumbled upon the video footage that had already been posted on various social media sites.

"Following that, the woman then came across her neighbour poking at something in the drain at her house. After checking, the woman then found her cat in the drain covered in blood and was believed to have been physically abused by the suspect," he said in a statement.

According to the police chief, an investigation of the footage showed the suspect beating and throwing the cat into an unoccupied house. The man was arrested at his home just after midnight and reportedly told officers he was "annoyed" by the cat.

"The suspect later admitted to abusing the cat because he felt disturbed after he was questioned by investigators," the chief added.

A woman named Kak Yong uploaded footage of herself discovering the cat inside the drain on her page, telling followers that her neighbour "wants to kill my fur child".

Sharing videos of the cat sitting in a cardboard box with blood on its face, the woman revealed her cat lives indoors and never goes out at all, and has "never" defecated or urinated in her neighbour's home.

She described noticing her cat wasn't in his usual room and walking up the alley next to her house to look for him. On the walk back home, she saw an "apek" - an elderly man - "in the middle of sticking something in the gutter".

"He saw me and went straight into the house but my instinct is strong to know what it is and I don't want to hope it's my child," she continued. "I included a video of me snorting and trembling when looking at the drain and what I found was my fur baby. I pulled him and his face was already bleeding .. Oh God, my heart is broken.."

According to local media, police are now investigating the case under Section 428 of the Penal Code for animal mischief, Section 29(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 for animal abuse and cruelty, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

If convicted, the man could face up to three years in jail and a fine of RM100,000, or £17,400.

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