Cat-haters, revisited

David Hooi Yin Weng, the serial cat killer of Bedok, has been given a year's jail - the maximum sentence - for killing the kitties in the area, and this follows a three-month jail term he served earlier this year, also for killing cats.

What was clear was that:

He was found to be of below average intelligence;

He had an apparent 'fondness' for cats, as evidenced by his petting them and taking them into his home (at least initially);

He could not tolerate it when the cats did 'cat things', such as scratching him when past the point at which they no longer wanted to be petted, or peeing in prohibited areas in his home;

He has not been able to form meaningful relationships with other people.

The judge has asked that, on his release from prison a year from now, the animal welfare groups include him in their activities so he can learn the ways of animals (and cats in particular). All this is in the hope that he won't repeat his heinous crime.

How equipped are animal groups to deal with such a person, who's obviously socially inept, inadequately socialised to conduct normal human relationships? If he can exhibit such violence towards animals, what are the chances that volunteers from animal welfare groups aren't at risk when dealing with him themselves?

Keeping him in prison indefinitely is not an option.

Don't we all see similarities between him and the other cat killer - the one I wrote about in my Aug 24 posting, '101 uses for a dead cat-hater'?