CONVICTED (2023) | Terry Bree, born 1952, of Brunswick Street, Leamington Spa CV31 2EW – brutally kicked an elderly cat who died shortly afterwards.
In an unprovoked attack Terry Bree was caught on a video doorbell lashing out at Lenny, a 21-year-old cat who died three weeks later.
The father-of-five admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animal.
Bree had taken his German Shepherd dog, Sasha, for an early morning walk on September 16, 2023, when the incident occurred shortly before 7am.
He was seen putting his dog onto her lead in Hastang Fields before roughly shaking her by the neck and then, as he walks off, delivering a powerful kick to a nearby cat.
Leamington Magistrates were told by prosecutor Nabiha Ahmed that the elderly cat had become unwell after the attack – making messes in the home and appearing nervous to go outside. He passed away on October 9.
She said that Bree, who had been a dog owner for 35 years, had no dislike for cats but there had been problems with felines on the road.
She said that Bree’s dog Sasha had been scratched on the nose by Lenny in an earlier incident not caught on camera: ‘The frustrations got to him and he saw red.’
Defending, Jas Thiara said that her client ‘deeply regrets his actions’ and is ‘very conscious that this has caused a public outcry.’
She told the Court that Bree had reported himself to the RSPCA after the incident.
‘He took full responsibility and felt really bad at what had happened,’ she said.
But she pointed out that there was no way of confirming what level of injury would have been caused.
In her ruling, the Chair of the Bench Janis Cauthery, rejected the Crown’s call for Bree to be banned from keeping all animals.
She said: ‘We have considered this carefully and seen no evidence of cruelty towards your dog so our disqualification order will prevent you from owning or keeping cats for five years.’
The court heard that Bree and his partner had owned Sasha for two years after getting her from the Dog’s Trust charity.
She had previously been kept in a crate for a year.
He said his method of shaking her by the collar was how he got her to pay attention.
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work. Ordered to pay £200 in compensation to Lenny’s owners, £185 in court costs and a £114 victim surcharge. Banned from owning or keeping a cat for five years (expires November 2028).
