TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 52-year-old male tax counselor from Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture for allegedly killing stray cats, video footage of which was posted online, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 29).
Over a 13-month period ending in April, Makoto Oya snared three stray cats with a trap near a dilapidated house in Fukaya City, Saitama. He then killed them with boiling water and a blowtorch.
Oya, who has been accused of violating the Animal Protection Law regarding animal cruelty, partially denies the allegations. “The excrement and urine of cats stinks,” the suspect was quoted by police. “Their nails are sharpened to injure. I do not recognize the extermination of harmful animals to be a violation of the law.”
According to police, Ota is believed to have killed at least 13 cats since January of last year. Footage of the killings was uploaded to an anonymous video-sharing site. In May, a person seeing one of the videos online tipped off police, according to the Asahi Shimbun (Aug. 29).
