Woman who put cat in jar charged with abuse
By: Chi-hao James Lo , The China Post
December 25, 2013, 12:18 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A college student who posted pictures of her cat sealed in a jar was charged with violations against the Animal Protection Law (動物保護法) yesterday, by the Taichung District Prosecutor's office (台中地檢署) and will face up to one year maximum imprisonment pending further investigations.
Kiki Lin, a college student at Providence University (靜宜大學), became the target of a recent internet uproar from Facebook netizens. After sealing her namesake cat into a plastic jar, Lin went on to take pictures of the ordeal, claiming the incident as a “punishment” for the feline's misbehavior after she had uploaded them onto the social network. Netizens soon flooded Lin's page with negative comments calling her an animal abuser. “I really don't see how it is their (netizens) place to criticize me,” said Lin, “without even knowing what happened; they have too much time on their hands.”
Lin, currently a Junior majoring in English, claims to love her cat more than her life. However, contrary to her Internet post, Lin claimed the reason behind sealing her “beloved” cat Kiki into a jar was so that the duo could enjoy a nice outing. “I love her so much, and I was just testing out the most convenient method of taking her out. And I only did it once.” Claiming that her cat's 4kg weight was too strong for her to cope with when trying to put the cat into a bag, Lin claimed that her experiment for an alternative was reasonable and legit. Lin went on to present press with the jar in question with obvious air holes punctured on the surface, drastically different from that of her uploaded photograph.
Regarding netizens' anger, Lin said that she was sorry for the misunderstanding but refuses to apologize for her action. When asked to respond to her accusers, Lin said “I only have three words for them: HA HA HA.”
After conducting an inspection towards the incident, the Taichung City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office charged Lin with violation toward the “Animal Protection Law” late yesterday and has referred the case for further investigation to the Taichung District Prosecutor's office
According to Yu Chien-chung (余建中), Director of the Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office, the woman's action is punishable with NT$ 15,000 to NT$ 75,00 in fines, as well as up to one year in prison if the court finds her guilty under the Animal Protection Act.
