Woman drowned her pet cats in toilet
- Published
Abbi Mann drowned the cats in a toilet at her home
A woman drowned her two pet cats in the bathroom toilet with her "bare hands".
Abbi Mann, 36, from Derbyshire, called police claiming they had been poisoned before saying she had pushed one of their faces into water last July.
She denied killing Bob and Max in an inappropriate and inhumane manner, but was found guilty following a trial at Chesterfield Magistrates' Court.
Mann, of Romford Way, Chesterfield, was sentenced on Monday to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
She was also disqualified from keeping all animals for life and ordered to pay £1,250 in costs, in addition to a £115 victim surcharge.
RSPCA inspector Rachel Leafe said it was a "truly shocking case".
The magistrates said Mann killed her cats with her "bare hands" in a "nasty and cruel" attack
She said Mann appeared to be "drunk" when she called police a number of times on 20 July 2017.
"During the calls she told the call handlers that her cats had been poisoned before saying she'd pushed one of their faces into the water," she said.
Police found the bodies of two domestic cats in the living room.
Ms Leafe said: "The cats were said to have wet fur and there were puddles of water on the floor.
"When I attended the cats' bodies were still there and there was fur around the toilet and sink basins.
"It's difficult to think about the fear and suffering these cats must have endured in their final moments."
Mann told the court she had found the animals dead outside her home.
However, vets for both the prosecution and defence concluded they died from drowning.
Sentencing her, magistrates said Mann killed her cats with her "bare hands" in the "nasty and cruel" attack.
A third cat, found alive in the house, was given to the RSPCA to rehome.
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