British woman jailed for microwaving kitten that attacked her goldfish

A British woman was so upset that her pet kitten attacked her goldfish that she put it in the microwave and turned it on.

Laura Cunliffe, 23, set the microwave for five minutes but switched it off once she saw what was happening to her black-and-white Mowgli. Unfortunately, it was too late for the cat and it died.

The Hoyland woman has been sent to jail for 14 weeks after admitting to “causing unnecessary suffering to an animal” at Barnsley Magistrates' Court.

District Judge John Foster banned Cunliffe from keeping animals for the rest of her life. “This was an act of utterly horrendous cruelty on your part on an animal that, as far as I could see, had come to trust you and rely on you,” Foster said.

According to Cunliffe’s representative, she suffers from psychotic depression.

"This was such a sad case and clearly this poor kitten would have suffered terribly over a prolonged period of time,” a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spokeswoman told the BBC. "Sentencing is a matter for the courts but we hope this means other animals will not have to suffer in the future in this way."

[BBC News] [London Evening Standard]