Man who beat cat to death is jailed

A Midland health campaigner has been jailed for beating his family's pet cat to death with a walking stick.

He was reported to police by his daughter-in-law, a veterinary nurse, who heard him say "I'm going to kill the cat" before the "prolonged and awful" attack, a court heard.

Michael Dixon, 53, of Warbler Place, Kidderminster, clubbed black and white cat Tipsy to death after it scratched one of his grandchildren.

He was jailed for 16 weeks yesterday after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to the animal. He was also banned from keeping pets for life.

Chairman of the magistrates Brian McCluskie told him: "This was a prolonged and awful attack. The animal did not die instantly and suffered a violent death."

Dixon was described as a man of previous good character who had campaigned against the closure of Kiderminster Hospital.

He had been at home with his family on May 14 last year when the cat scratched his four-year-old grandson on the leg, said Mr Nick Sutton, prosecuting for the RSPCA.

Tipsy ran upstairs, followed by his daughter-in-law Sally's dog Poppy. As she went upstairs to fetch the dog she heard her father-in-law say he was going to kill the cat and saw the stick.

Dixon's family heard the bedroom door slam and banging before he came back downstairs and calmly told them he had killed the cat.

The animal had suffered a fractured skill and internal bleeding. Investigations revealed the scratch to his grandson's leg was consistent with one given by a cat in play and had not needed a plaster.

Mr Fergus Maxwell, defending, said: "He is ashamed of what he has done."