UNITED KINGDOM – A husband angry at the amount of attention his wife lavished on her cats may have turned on the animals in jealousy, a court was told.
Norman Wilson, who is 48, was said to dislike the cats his wife loved and wanted them out of the house.
Over a period of just about two years, 10 cats died in mysterious circumstances at the home he shared with his 49-year-old wife, whose name is Carrone Wilson.
The cats all died either from poisoning by anti-freeze or after having suffered serious head injuries.
The final death occurred just the past December when a ginger kitten called Tiny Tim died from head injuries just two days before Christmas.
Wilson claimed he had not touched the kitten and told vets the animal must have suffered the catastrophic injuries when it tumbled from the bed while playing.
But, aware of 10 previous deaths at the house, RSPCA officials are now launching an investigation.
Norman Wilson was said to dislike the cats his wife loved and wanted them out of the house CREDIT: EDDIE MITCHELL
Magistrates in Brighton were alerted to the fact that Wilson was jealous of the attention lavished on the cats by his wife of three years, which may have caused his behavior towards them to become “unreasonable”.
He had told police that apart from one cat, Snowball, he would rather there were no cats in the house.
David Buck, who is prosecuting, said the couple had acquired around 10 cats since they married in 2013. He said Mrs. Wilson, who had serious health problems and uses a wheelchair, doted too much on the cats.
The animals were initially well cared for, received their vaccinations and were also micro-chipped.
A probation report stated that Mr. Wilson was clearly jealous of “the attention she gave to the cats and this may have underpinned his behaviour” towards the animals.
However, he said that one by one, they suffered serious incidents that claimed their lives.
Norman Wilson was given a 10-week suspended jail sentence CREDIT: EDDIE MITCHELL
Three cats died of renal failure caused by apparent anti-freeze poisoning while seven others died after sustaining serious injuries – in particular to the head.
On December 23 os just last year, vet Samantha Wallace received a call saying Tiny Tim may have suffered an injury after falling off the bed while playing and appeared to be in pain.
On arrival, the defendant told the vet he never laid a hand on the kitten but had heard it crying in the corner.
Mr. Buck stated: “The vet examined the kitten. It was unable to walk or stand up. It had suffered injuries to both its eyes and had also suffered a significant injury to the head.
“As such there was no alternative and the vet recommended the kitten be put down.”
Wilson and his wife were both later charged with failing to protect the kitten from pain, suffering, injury.
Mrs. Wilson, who has now separated from the defendant, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
Wilson pleaded guilty to the offence and was then handed a 10-week suspended jail sentence. He has also been banned from keeping any type of animals.
Inspector Tony Woodley, of the RSPCA, stated: “A vet said that there had been intentional injuries to this tiny little animal which would have required ‘significant external force’ to cause the damage they did. They said this was likely to have happened hours before his death.
“These injuries led to the premature death of a this very young animal – whose life was just too short. It is incredibly sad.”
He concluded: “It is clear a number of animals in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson died in a short space of time.”
