A woman who murdered her cat by drowning it and then putting it in the freezer because the feline created a mess in her kitchen has avoided prison.
Rosie Zolla is accused of committing an “abhorrent act of animal cruelty” when she murdered Nana McPhee, a black and white male, according to the Truro Magistrates’ Court.
She accepted responsibility for two counts of causing needless suffering to an animal that is protected by the law, but she will not spend any time in jail.
The cat, which she’d had for six months, was acting up in her kitchen in Newquay, Cornwall, the court was told.
According to a post-mortem exam, Zolla carried the animal upstairs and placed him in the tub before drowning him.
The 28 year old woman then stuffed the cat’s body into the freezer.
RSCPA prosecutor Tamsin Murphy said: “RSPCA inspector Kempson attended on February 19 2021 with a police officer, following reports Zolla had deliberately drowned a cat and put the body in a freezer.
“She let them in and admitted that she had put the cat in the bath, and put its body in the freezer. She had the cat for about six months, and asked how it died she said she put it in the bath.”
Zolla was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail, suspended for two years.
She was required to pay £400 in costs, as well as a victim surcharge of £128, and undergo mental health and alcohol rehabilitation days as punishment.
She was also sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, with no possibility of an appeal within the next ten years. Despite Zolla’s attorneys’ objections, she was banned from maintaining animals for the next ten years.
The magistrates said: “We considered the matter carefully and we reached the conclusion that it is certainly past the custody threshold. This was really horrible cruelty to an animal, and we have no doubts in our minds it past it. However I’ll tell you we’ll suspend the sentence.
“But first I want it made abundantly clear that we found this whole act of animal cruelty abhorrent. Utterly unacceptable madam.
“The fact the sentence we’ll pass is being suspended is not to be taken as any indication of this bench feeling this is not of the upmost gravity. It is.”
They continued: ”We were asked by our legal advisor why we were suspending this. We actually have two reasons. The first is your previous good character, second we actually have some belief in rehabilitation here.
“That is the reason this is not an instant custodial sentence.
“Our guidelines quite clearly say we can only suspend a sentence if we honestly believe that if the power was not there to suspend it we would send you straight to prison today. I tell you quite candidly we passed that threshold without a doubt.”
