A BRUTAL attack in which a kitten was stabbed and killed by a drunken man has shocked animal lovers.
The sickening incident in
Limerick city has been described by animal workers in the region as one of the worst atrocities they have every come across.
A highly intoxicated man, aged in his 30s, is understood to be responsible for the vicious attack on the helpless young kitten named "Fifi".
The incident happened on Hartstonge Street in the city on Sunday afternoon when a drunken man picked up the kitten near her home and without reason, brutally stabbed the small animal with a knife.
He then flung the animal at the side wall of a house and left it bleeding profusely on the pavement before staggering off with another individual.
Rushed
The badly injured kitten was rushed to the Treaty Vetinary Clinic in Thomondgate but died a short time later. The owner of "Fifi" brought the stray kitten to Limerick from
Sligo while on holiday last month.
"I saw she had nobody so I brought her home with me. She was extremely loveable. You would be watching television and she would sit on your neck, purring all the time," the owner who asked not to be identified said. "I only had her for three weeks; it was a very short life. Why were these people out there with a knife? They have absolutely no regard for a defenceless little kitten.
"Whoever did this could do this again to a little child. The worst thing was they went out drinking afterwards, joking about it." Gardai have been alerted to the incident.
Manager of the Limerick Animal Welfare Sanctuary Jodie Hayward said the incident left her absolutely disgusted.
"People like this have no place in society," Ms Hayward said.
- Barry Duggan
