A French man is sentenced to prison for animal cruelty within days after posting a Facebook video of himself throwing a cat against a wall. February 3, 2014 6:01 PM PST Online cat videos have come to be associated with some of the cutest, silliest moments the Internet has to offer. But they can have a dark side too, as a legal sentence handed down in France Monday shows. A veterinarian holds Oscar the kitten, who was injured when thrown repeatedly against a building. The perpetrator then posted the video to his Facebook profile. (Credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) Farid Ghilas of Marseille was sentenced to a year in prison for of animal cruelty after posting a video to his Facebook profile last week showing him repeatedly hurling a kitten against a building. The video quickly went viral, sparking widespread horror and outrage and even death threats to the perpetrator. By the time Ghilas took the video down, Facebook users had copied and pasted his profile information; posted his name, address, and phone number on the Web; and created Facebook pages calling for his arrest. The police ended up taking Ghilas into custody less than 24 hours after the video appeared online. On Monday, just days later, some 200 animal-rights activists, accompanied by about 20 dogs, gathered outside the court during the hearing where the 24-year-old man was sentenced on charges of "acts of cruelty against a domestic and tame animal," an offense that carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of 30,000 euros (about $40,500). According to a translated version of a Metro News article on the ruling, Farid Ghilas gave no clear explanation of what drove him to abuse the 5-month-old Oscar. "I do not know what came over me," he reportedly said several times. "I walked around the neighborhood. Cat came to me. I took it, I swung." After the video was shown in court, he murmured an apology. The president of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Marseille, a plaintiff in the case, called the apology weak, Metro News reported. "We must set an example for all those who torment animals," Andy Salviano said, while asking tense and angry protesters to respect the sentence. Other plaintiffs included the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the welfare and protection of animals. Rescued by a bystander who witnessed the ordeal, the rust and white kitty suffered a fractured leg in the attack and is now being cared for the Marseille SPA, where, "like all kittens, [he's] just waiting to play," the organization reports. His guardian will reportedly be able to recover the pet soon. And if the Internet's past record of kindness to vulnerable animals and the many well wishes posted to the SPA's Facebook page are any indication, Oscar now has supporters the world over. Farid Ghilas is pictured in a screenshot of the offending video, captured before he took it down. (Credit: Brigitte Bardot Foundation)

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A French man is sentenced to prison for animal cruelty within days after posting a Facebook video of himself throwing a cat against a wall. February 3, 2014 6:01 PM PST Online cat videos have come to be associated with some of the cutest, silliest moments the Internet has to offer. But they can have a dark side too, as a legal sentence handed down in France Monday shows. A veterinarian holds Oscar the kitten, who was injured when thrown repeatedly against a building. The perpetrator then posted the video to his Facebook profile. (Credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) Farid Ghilas of Marseille was sentenced to a year in prison for of animal cruelty after posting a video to his Facebook profile last week showing him repeatedly hurling a kitten against a building. The video quickly went viral, sparking widespread horror and outrage and even death threats to the perpetrator. By the time Ghilas took the video down, Facebook users had copied and pasted his profile information; posted his name, address, and phone number on the Web; and created Facebook pages calling for his arrest. The police ended up taking Ghilas into custody less than 24 hours after the video appeared online. On Monday, just days later, some 200 animal-rights activists, accompanied by about 20 dogs, gathered outside the court during the hearing where the 24-year-old man was sentenced on charges of "acts of cruelty against a domestic and tame animal," an offense that carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of 30,000 euros (about $40,500). According to a translated version of a Metro News article on the ruling, Farid Ghilas gave no clear explanation of what drove him to abuse the 5-month-old Oscar. "I do not know what came over me," he reportedly said several times. "I walked around the neighborhood. Cat came to me. I took it, I swung." After the video was shown in court, he murmured an apology. The president of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Marseille, a plaintiff in the case, called the apology weak, Metro News reported. "We must set an example for all those who torment animals," Andy Salviano said, while asking tense and angry protesters to respect the sentence. Other plaintiffs included the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the welfare and protection of animals. Rescued by a bystander who witnessed the ordeal, the rust and white kitty suffered a fractured leg in the attack and is now being cared for the Marseille SPA, where, "like all kittens, [he's] just waiting to play," the organization reports. His guardian will reportedly be able to recover the pet soon. And if the Internet's past record of kindness to vulnerable animals and the many well wishes posted to the SPA's Facebook page are any indication, Oscar now has supporters the world over. Farid Ghilas is pictured in a screenshot of the offending video, captured before he took it down. (Credit: Brigitte Bardot Foundation)

A French man is sentenced to prison for animal cruelty within days after posting a Facebook video of himself throwing a cat against a wall. February 3, 2014 6:01 PM PST Online cat videos have come to be associated with some of the cutest, silliest moments the Internet has to offer. But they can have a dark side too, as a legal sentence handed down in France Monday shows. A veterinarian holds Oscar the kitten, who was injured when thrown repeatedly against a building. The perpetrator then posted the video to his Facebook profile. (Credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images) Farid Ghilas of Marseille was sentenced to a year in prison for of animal cruelty after posting a video to his Facebook profile last week showing him repeatedly hurling a kitten against a building. The video quickly went viral, sparking widespread horror and outrage and even death threats to the perpetrator. By the time Ghilas took the video down, Facebook users had copied and pasted his profile information; posted his name, address, and phone number on the Web; and created Facebook pages calling for his arrest. The police ended up taking Ghilas into custody less than 24 hours after the video appeared online. On Monday, just days later, some 200 animal-rights activists, accompanied by about 20 dogs, gathered outside the court during the hearing where the 24-year-old man was sentenced on charges of "acts of cruelty against a domestic and tame animal," an offense that carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of 30,000 euros (about $40,500). According to a translated version of a Metro News article on the ruling, Farid Ghilas gave no clear explanation of what drove him to abuse the 5-month-old Oscar. "I do not know what came over me," he reportedly said several times. "I walked around the neighborhood. Cat came to me. I took it, I swung." After the video was shown in court, he murmured an apology. The president of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Marseille, a plaintiff in the case, called the apology weak, Metro News reported. "We must set an example for all those who torment animals," Andy Salviano said, while asking tense and angry protesters to respect the sentence. Other plaintiffs included the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the welfare and protection of animals. Rescued by a bystander who witnessed the ordeal, the rust and white kitty suffered a fractured leg in the attack and is now being cared for the Marseille SPA, where, "like all kittens, [he's] just waiting to play," the organization reports. His guardian will reportedly be able to recover the pet soon. And if the Internet's past record of kindness to vulnerable animals and the many well wishes posted to the SPA's Facebook page are any indication, Oscar now has supporters the world over. Farid Ghilas is pictured in a screenshot of the offending video, captured before he took it down. (Credit: Brigitte Bardot Foundation)

Posted by : Unknown Monday, February 3, 2014

A French man is sentenced to prison for animal cruelty within days after posting a Facebook video of himself throwing a cat against a wall.

February 3, 2014 6:01 PM PST

Online cat videos have come to be associated with some of the cutest, silliest moments the Internet has to offer. But they can have a dark side too, as a legal sentence handed down in France Monday shows.

A veterinarian holds Oscar the kitten, who was injured when thrown repeatedly against a building. The perpetrator then posted the video to his Facebook profile.

(Credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

Farid Ghilas of Marseille was sentenced to a year in prison for of animal cruelty after posting a video to his Facebook profile last week showing him repeatedly hurling a kitten against a building. The video quickly went viral, sparking widespread horror and outrage and even death threats to the perpetrator.

By the time Ghilas took the video down, Facebook users had copied and pasted his profile information; posted his name, address, and phone number on the Web; and created Facebook pages calling for his arrest. The police ended up taking Ghilas into custody less than 24 hours after the video appeared online.

On Monday, just days later, some 200 animal-rights activists, accompanied by about 20 dogs, gathered outside the court during the hearing where the 24-year-old man was sentenced on charges of "acts of cruelty against a domestic and tame animal," an offense that carries a maximum prison term of two years and a fine of 30,000 euros (about $40,500).

According to a translated version of a Metro News article on the ruling, Farid Ghilas gave no clear explanation of what drove him to abuse the 5-month-old Oscar. "I do not know what came over me," he reportedly said several times. "I walked around the neighborhood. Cat came to me. I took it, I swung." After the video was shown in court, he murmured an apology.

The president of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Marseille, a plaintiff in the case, called the apology weak, Metro News reported. "We must set an example for all those who torment animals," Andy Salviano said, while asking tense and angry protesters to respect the sentence. Other plaintiffs included the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the welfare and protection of animals.

Rescued by a bystander who witnessed the ordeal, the rust and white kitty suffered a fractured leg in the attack and is now being cared for the Marseille SPA, where, "like all kittens, [he's] just waiting to play," the organization reports. His guardian will reportedly be able to recover the pet soon. And if the Internet's past record of kindness to vulnerable animals and the many well wishes posted to the SPA's Facebook page are any indication, Oscar now has supporters the world over.