A French cat owner has been fined over £1,000 after her pet trespassed into a neighbour’s garden.
Dominique Valdes’s cat Rémi was found guilty of causing damage to the neighbour’s property in the French town of Agde after a court heard how the animal had urinated on a duvet, defecated in the garden and left paw prints on a wall.
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The initial ruling was handed down in January, leaving Ms Valdes to pay nearly £400 in damages and £700 in legal fees.
The sentence included a penalty of £26 each time the ginger tomcat crosses the fence to the neighbour’s property again.
Now, Rémi has been accused of re-offending, meaning that Ms Valdes will have to return to court in December and faces paying a bill of £1,750.
Speaking to French broadcaster BFMTV, Ms Valdes said the lawsuit had taken a heavy mental toll on her: ‘When I was told about the conviction, it was as if I’d been hit over the head with a brick.’
Ms Valdes claims the case has given her insomnia and that she has had to start psychotherapy to cope with the stress.
She also argued how the initial ruling had affected Rémi because she is having to keep him at home.
A French cat owner has been fined over £1,000 after her pet trespassed into a neighbour’s garden (stock photo)
‘To keep him quiet, I tend to give him more food because I don’t know what else to do when he howls, so he eats more and has gained weight.’
‘I can’t even put him in my garden for fear that he’ll jump the fence. It’s as if he’s been sentenced to house arrest, a kind of imprisonment and a double punishment,’ she added.
Despite being considered a nuisance by one neighbour, other residents have come out in Rémi’s defence.
Animal protection organisations have also shown their support for Rémi.
Guillaume Sanchez, the director of Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA), France’s league for the protection of animals, told French newspaper Le Parisien: ‘Domestic cats, especially when they live in a house, have a natural need to venture around their territory. If this case sets a precedent, we can undoubtedly expect a slowdown in adoptions.
‘Who would want to adopt a pet if they risked being ordered to pay penalties for their animal’s movements? No one!’
