Mum jailed for killing cat in wash

A MOTHER who killed the family cat by putting it in a boiling wash in the washing machine was jailed for six weeks yesterday.

Holly Thacker, 34, from Norwich, broke down in tears as magistrates told her a prison sentence was the only option after she “deliberately caused intense suffering” to the cat.

Norwich magistrates heard that Thacker, a mother of three, deliberately put Fluffy in the washing machine on a boiling wash and then dumped the black cat in her wheelie bin.

The court heard the terrified cat broke all her claws as the washing machine drum rotated. A vet estimated it would have taken between five and 10 minutes for the animal to die, during which time “the cat must have been frightened and terrified”.

RSPCA inspector Rob Melloy said: “I have never come across anything as heartless as this.”

Jonathan Eales, prosecuting, told the court Thacker’s ex-husband alerted them following a conversation with her at her home.