WARNING: This story is about cruelty to an animal and may upset some readers
A man bought his partner a cat only to subject it to acts of cruelty as their relationship broke down, including pulling its teeth out with pliers.
Rongjian Feng bought the short-haired black cat in December 2022 and it was named Max.
But it was only months before the ill-treatment of the pet started. Feng took a pair of pliers from his garage and used them to break the cat’s upper teeth between April and July 2023.
However, it was years before the law caught up with him after CCTV footage revealed a series of incidents that culminated in the animal suffering a fractured femur, wounded lip and front foot, and broken whiskers.
Feng has now been banned from owning animals for 10 years and ordered to pay $5000 in veterinary costs after appearing in the Christchurch District Court charged with wilful ill-treatment of an animal.
The summary of facts showed Feng, known as “Frankie”, declined to be formally interviewed by police.
Judge Tony Greig described the offending as “cruel in the extreme”.
In April 2024, about a year after Feng had snapped the cat’s teeth, a second incident resulted in the animal suffering a fractured femur on its left hind leg, a wounded upper lip and dorsal, scuffed toenails on both front feet and broken whiskers.
Two veterinarians examined Max, the first saying the injuries and circumstances leading to them would have caused the cat pain and distress.
The second vet, after observing the CCTV footage, said the fracture and the importance of the bone in normal mobility would have caused extreme pain.
The vet said the femur was a large, strong bone that didn’t fracture easily and significant blunt trauma would have caused the bone to break.
The footage showed the cat inside a pet crate in the lounge at Feng’s home in April 2024 as it was recovering after a fracture to its right hind leg a month earlier. The limb had to be amputated because of the severity of the fracture, the origins of which are unknown and were not attributed to Feng.
He removed the cat from the crate and restrained and struggled with it for two minutes on the floor.
Feng was then seen holding the cat by its tail, lifting it up and over the cage, and then letting it go before chasing the animal around the lounge out of view of the camera.
Feng attempted to kick the cat as it ran away.
A vet who viewed the footage said holding the cat by its tail would have caused immediate distress, pain and discomfort.
Two hours later Feng removed the cat from the crate again, gripping the skin at the back of the neck (scruffing), and held it in that position for 40 seconds while appearing to examine it.
Feng stood up while still holding the cat and moved out of view.
The vets who viewed the footage said scruffing was contrary to fear-free handling of adult cats.
The cat came back into the camera’s view a minute later and was unable to use its one remaining back leg, struggling across the floor towards the crate.
Feng was seen following the cat and appeared to try to find it but left a short time later.
The next day his partner found the cat with an injured leg that was “floppy” and non-weight bearing.
Max collapsed when trying to walk and was taken to the vet, who identified the injuries.
Three months earlier the cat had been examined by a vet who discovered fractures to its teeth.
In May 2024, both of the cat’s upper canine teeth were removed by a veterinarian dentist who concluded the damage was consistent with them having been deliberately snapped by human intervention.
When asked by his partner why he had broken the cat’s teeth, Feng said the cat had bitten him and he was afraid the cat would bite their daughter.
Feng’s lawyer Tony Garrett agreed with SPCA prosecutor Grace Duncan that imprisonment was an appropriate starting point.
Judge Greig said he would have given Feng home detention but that would have left little ability to pay the vet costs.
“I’m attracted to a sentence that keeps him working.”
A report showed Feng was under significant psychological distress, exhausted and struggling with relationship strain.
Judge Grieg sentenced Feng to four months’ community detention, ordered him to repay $5000 in vet fees to the SPCA and disqualified him from owning animals for a decade.
After the sentencing, SPCA chief executive Todd Westwood said Max’s treatment was despicable.
“The fact Max was not seen by a veterinarian for months after his teeth were deliberately broken beggars belief. Max would have suffered extreme pain and suffering during this time and struggled to eat.
“Not only that, but the defendant also swung Max by his tail while recovering from a serious injury, one month out of surgery.”
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.