Kurt Zouma / 180 hours community service + banned from keeping cats for 5 years

I am sure Zouma thinks it is just rough play. He comes across as more ignorant and oblivious than malicious.

I don't think it's as bad as some of the reactions suggest. He's not injuring the cat and looks controlled enough to not be close to it either.

Not nice to watch though. The cat is clearly distressed.

You're having a bit of a shocker mate. We all have them every now and then.
 
...PS: Just as I was writing this, my cat came up to me purring and rubbing his face on mine. It made me sad knowing that 99% of cats don’t have a life not even remotely as good as him, but now seeing that even cats that should theoretically have a great life have it worse than the cats leaving on the street… I’m lost for words.
Absolutely agree with this.

The same thought has struck me many times when I've been stroking the cats we've taken in as strays and I'm thinking how happy they are and how different than the, usually, gaunt, scared cat that we took in. But it's often tinged with sadness that that applies to such a minority of cats (animals), and the rest are still living in those terrible conditions. :(
 
Most of the blame needs to be laid on Moyes for Zouma’s selection.He knew how this would look. Nice to see that he thinks there shouldn’t be any consequences for animal cruelty.
 
I don’t care about cats but not wanting to see them harmed.

What’s really fecking stupid is filming it and posting it laughing. Mental people.

Stupid decision to start him today by West Ham too.
 
Starts today. Not a good decision by West Ham.
Despicable decision from the club, and just highlights how little will actually be done about it.

The club are obviously not taking it serious. He likely won't be punished by the FA either. And isn't facing legal action from the police. More action will probably be taken over some idiot on social media or at the ground who verbally abuses Zouma for it than will be taken against him for physically abusing an animal.
 
Bit daft to assume everyone on this massive message board eats meat, isn’t it? Lovely try at attempting to look super wise though.

Hazard a guess over 85% do. That’s by population statistics. Not saying people can’t or shouldn’t, personal choice and all that. The point is the outrage when it’s a cat compared to what most contribute to day in day out, shows the level of sheer disconnect.

And Zouma Starts tonight, will be interesting to see what reception he gets...
 
That’s mental that he starts tonight. Awful from West Ham
 
Some really got carried away thinking he’s finished as a football in this league. Disgusting to see him starting tonight
 
Kicking Cat> Eating dead animals that were terribly abused at the slaughterhouse

Humans.
 
Despicable decision from the club, and just highlights how little will actually be done about it.

The club are obviously not taking it serious. He likely won't be punished by the FA either. And isn't facing legal action from the police. More action will probably be taken over some idiot on social media or at the ground who verbally abuses Zouma for it than will be taken against him for physically abusing an animal.

That's sadly true.

I will stop short on wishing injury to Zouma during this game, but I hope he gets rough treatment from both sets of supporters. I want it seared into his tiny mind that his actions are not, and will never be, anything close to acceptable. I want him lying in bed at night with the ghost of wrongdoing haunting his miniscule conscience until he grows a pair and behaves like a functioning adult rather than a burgeoning psychopath.
 
Absolutely bonkers by West Ham to play him. PR disaster. I've never minded west Ham but hope they lose tonight and Zuma gets heavy treatment
 
This is the last bit of proof anybody needed to show that clubs honestly couldn’t give a sh*t about anything else but their league position anymore. Starting him today, when the Police have said they won’t investigate means his punishment is what? An RSPCA sensitivity course!

The game is gone.
 
I'm stunned!!! What message does this send out? It's all about the ker-ching and sod doing the right thing. It's only because he's one of their best players - a fringe player would be out the door before his feet touched the ground.

West Ham and Moyes should be ashamed of themselves. I hope Zouma gets slaughtered by the away fans at every game he plays - forever!!!
 
Hope someone boots him like he booted that cat tbh. Go in 2 footed studs up, smack him in the face, boot him in the chest, all of it. cnut.
 
As they are humans. I'm sure you have some friends / ex-friends / people you know that have done some vile/weird things too. It's what's pretty scary about life, at least with footballers the chance of them being outed for this stuff is high due to their profile and how social media is now. For some random person you bump into on the street....who knows.
Oh yea, I’m no angel myself & footballers are indeed just an extension of an increasingly troubling society but it’s becoming more difficult to separate the art from the artist at this point.

Edit: When I say no angel, I don’t kick cats :nervous:
 
David Moyes in being cnut shocker.
 
Someone needs to drop kick Zouma if I saw anyone abusing an animal I would be done for GBH and im not joking
 
In uproar over the cat (still rightfully so) screaming about animal cruelty, all while tucking into beef burgers.. the irony
I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're not a farmer. Most farmers don't dropkick their cows, chase them under tables & slap their heads before turning them into beef burgers.
 
I’ll admit to not watching it. I can’t watch shit like that. Just don’t want it in my headspace.

Can anyone who has watched it confirm that it’s as nasty as the description makes it sound? Or could it possibly be excused as rough play?
Seems [excessively] rough play to me, not overt torture. Something a silly children could do, probably based on that idea that cats are resistant to falls and the like. Still very annoying to watch.

I can see where B20 is coming from. We, Devil's advocates, have a mission
 
In uproar over the cat (still rightfully so) screaming about animal cruelty, all while tucking into beef burgers.. the irony

Following this logic we could as well congratulate zouma for teaching that carnivore cat a lesson…
 
David Moyes and West Ham would have started Greenwood this week too.
 
West Ham shows true colours behind those bubbles. PR disaster. I hope Watford fans are loud today.
 
Apparently he's in the starting line up. Unbelievable.

Hope he gets told exactly what the crowd think of his actions, but we know some of West Hams fans are erm not pleasant.
 
Just saw this. Truly despicable. Never rough play in a million years. Rough play is only that If it goes both ways, hence «play». This is just cruel.
 
West Ham boss David Moyes said of the decision to start Zouma in Tuesday's home game:

"He is one of our better players. But it is ongoing and the club are dealing with it, so that is a separate matter."
Everything can be separate matter. Excuses from West Ham are written by kindergarden kids.
 
What he did was wrong but not nearly as bad as some make out. He's not injuring it or anything like that. Not nice to watch but not exactly criminal either.
Give yourself a big fecking wobble.

I'm starting to seriously question the mindset of some posters here.
 
People calling it ‘rough play’ ffs… cmon. It’s animal abuse and cruelty.

I’ve owned numerous big, serious dogs - dogs that liked to play rough, and that footage was upsetting to watch. You don’t kick a fecking animal across the room and smack it in the face so hard that it goes flying and get away with ‘rough play’. Cmon ffs.

It’s not rough play, it’s cruelty to a helpless, voiceless animal while laughing at it.

And btw, I don’t even like cats, I’m not a ‘cat person’, so I don’t have some kind of bias toward babying cats.

The fact he starts tonight after the young Utd player is widely agreed to have ended his career is utterly bonkers.
 
Yep, gorgeous feline. Makes it even more disgusting.

They are, I have a ragdoll and a British shorthair and the thought of them being launched the distance of the kitchen sickens me, my ragdoll especially is so trusting and loving to me, the thought of someone doing that is horrendous. Fortunately I have house cats, ragdolls aren't supposed to go out as they can't sense danger, but even without that I wouldn't have any outdoor cats again, far too many nasty people out there.

I wouldn't say it's the first time he's done that either....

The rspca went after that teacher who punched the horse, so hopefully they do the same to him.

In my opinion the sentence for cruelty to animals is nowhere near long enough.

Probably even worse is that child is now growing up being taught this is acceptable.
 
If cats could talk, some of the posters here would make it apologise to Zouma it seems :wenger:

Can't believe he's playing today. Probably got a nicer pay rise too. I bet they're making a statue of him heading a cat as I type this.