West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma has been sentenced to 180 hours of community service for kicking and slapping his pet cat in abuse caught on video.
The 27-year-old has also been banned from keeping cats for five years after pleading guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to protected animal.
Zouma’s younger brother, Yoan, was sentenced to 140 hours of community service.
Yoan filmed the incident involving the cat in February and posted it on social media app Snapchat.
Kurt Zouma could be seen kicking his Bengal cat across his kitchen, before throwing a pair of shoes at it and slapping its head.
“Both of you took part in this disgraceful and reprehensible act with this pet cat,” district judge Susan Holdham said.
“The cat looked up to you to care for its needs. On that date in February you did not provide for its needs.”
Information from Reuters was included in this report.