KAJANG: A 13-year-old boy was charged at the magistrate's court today with causing unnecessary suffering to a cat by setting it on fire last week.
The juvenile offender, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty after the charge was read out to him before magisrate Nik Siti Norazlini Nik Mohamed Faiz.
The charge sheet read that the boy had set the cat on fire at a parking area of Pangsapuri Taman Sri Kenari about 1pm on April 22.
He had committed the offence along with two others who are still at large.
He was charged under Section 29(1)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
It carries a fine of not less than RM20,000 and not more than RM100,000 or a jail term of not less than three years or both.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Afiqah Abdul Ghaffar offered RM10,000 bail with one surety.
"This is a serious case as it involved the offence of animal cruelty and this involves public interest," she said.
The boy's 30-year-old mother pleaded to the court for a lower bail as she was a single mum.
She said she earned RM1,500 monthly and was the sole breadwinner supporting her only son and her aged mother.
The magistrate set bail at RM1,000 with one surety.
The court fixed June 27 for the submission of the boy's moral report from the Welfare Department before sentencing him.
After proceedings, the boy's mother was seen crying with her family members as she waited to post bail for the boy.
Yesterday, Kajang police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaid Hassan confirmed the arrest of the boy after receiving a report on the incident from a senior citizen at 10.30am.
The cat was reported to have suffered serious burns after it was set on fire by three individuals whose cruel acts were caught on a closed-circuit television camera.
Zaid said the Department of Veterinary Services had taken the cat to be checked and it was being monitored by Selangor veterinary officers.
