Disgraced footballer Kurt Zouma faces up to four years in prison in his native France for kicking and slapping his cat.
A legal complaint has been filed against the 27-year-old in Paris, where there is widespread shock at a video showing the West Ham player attacking his pet at his Essex home.
It lead to lawyers working for the 30 Million Friends Foundation (La Fondation 30 Millions d’Amis), the largest animal rights group in France, contacting prosecutors.
A spokesman for the Foundation said: ‘We condemn this heinous act, have asked that the player be suspended from the France team, and filed a legal complaint against him.’
According to article 113-6 of the French Penal Code, a French citizen can be prosecuted for criminal acts carried out abroad.
Tough new animal protection laws were introduced in France in 2021, meaning that the ‘mistreatment of animals’ is now punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine equivalent to £50,000.
Aggravated factors in any criminal prosecution included acts of violence being committed in front of other people, or if the animal belongs to the attacker.
‘In the case of Kurt Zouma, the video appears to show aggravating facts, so he could be in very serious trouble,’ said another source close to the case.
Senior French politicians have also condemned Zouma, who is from the eastern city of Lyon, and called him to be kicked out of France’s national team.
Muriel Fusi, spokesperson for the French Animal party, said: ‘Many people on social networks are outraged by the video. Many people claim that this football player can no longer wear the colours of France’.
And Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally party and a presidential candidate, said: ‘It’s shameful. I still think that those who are capable of cruelty to animals are also capable of cruelty towards men. Violence is never trivial.’
Gary Lineker this morning slammed West Ham for playing Zouma, branding manager David Moyes’ selection as ‘tone deaf’.
He was booed every time he touched the ball against Watford in the incendiary London Stadium clash.
Moyes was forced to defend his team selection by saying he had to pick the best starting 11 after the video scandal.
But Lineker said today: ‘Shocked and appalled that West Ham played Zouma last night. A tone deaf decision.’
His thoughts were echoed by Becky Thwaites, Head of Public Affairs at national pet charity Blue Cross, said: ‘We were very disappointed to see West Ham make the decision to play Kurt Zouma last night. In our view it normalises his abhorrent behaviour and delivers the message it’s acceptable to treat a family pet that way.
‘It gives the impression to young football fans watching last night that it doesn’t matter what he did to his cat, all that is important is football.’
It came as he was dropped as an ambassador for a charity – which has helped big cats – and run by his wife Sandra.
West Ham United’s Kurt Zouma was booed every time he touched the ball last night after video
Zouma a few weeks ago as he was serving international duty with France alongside the team
The Snapchat video, captioned with ‘Sa commence’ showed Zouma kicking the cat across his kitchen floor
A separate clip also showed the West Ham defender slapping the cat out of a child’s hands
Gary Lineker described himself as being shocked and appalled at West Ham picking Zouma
In a grovelling statement, the 27-year-old (pictured), who only joined the east London club from Chelsea in a £29.8million deal in the summer, said he was ‘deeply sorry’ over the incident and insisted his cats were ‘loved and cherished’
The player had been featured on Seed’s supporters’ page, but after the scandal broke was no longer visible on the site.
Seed, which helps a number of good causes and was set up by wives and girlfriends of French players, declined to comment when quizzed about him by MailOnline.
Zouma was caught on video kicking and slapping his pet cat and heard laughing as he did it in his £2million Essex home.
Although the club dressed down the player, who reportedly earns £120,000-a-week, they still named him in their starting lineup against Watford on Tuesday evening.
Whenever he was tackled rival fans jeered ‘Now you know how your cat feels’.
This morning questions mounted on the decision and the silence of co-chairman David Gold and vice-chair Karren Brady over the matter.
While a club statement has condemned the matter, both are prolific tweeters but have stayed quiet online on it so far.
A petition calling for the RSPCA to take action against the French international launched yesterday has already been signed more than 95,000 times.
TV presenter and wildlife conservationist Chris Packham said: ‘The rancid stench of arrogance and no accountability is choking our lives and the London Stadium reeks of it.
‘There sport , once held as a paragon of fairness and excellence , is blighted by greed and a wholesale disregard for our most treasured basic values.
‘They gave him a pedestal to proclaim his pathetic apology . But they didn’t ‘lose the dressing room’ tonight, they lost the crowd.
‘Us, who will not tolerate cruelty, will not be distracted by the glamour and celebrity of football , but who will necessarily pursue justice and right this wrong.
‘This was not a beautiful game , this was an ugly disgrace and whilst he has had his night on the pitch , I hope he has his day in court.’
Moyes said after the match: ‘I know how people feel, but I’m also a football manager here.
‘My feeling was that Kurt has apologised and I understand a lot of people will not just be accepting of an apology. But to me he came out and [apologised] honestly and I had to do my job.’
Users on social media expressed their disgust that the defender was named in West Ham’s team.
Zouma got the last touch in the match, which finished 1-0 to West Ham.
The release of the videos sparked calls for West Ham to sack the star, including by BBC presenter Gabby Logan, who posted on Twitter: ‘I think I would probably get rid of a player who kicked and hit an animal for ‘laughs’ in his kitchen. All in front of his child.’
Other celebrities joined fans and cat lovers on social media in mocking the London club and their star defender.
Soccer Saturday anchor Jeff Stelling sarcastically said: ‘That’s certainly taught Zouma a lesson @WestHam. He must be repentant now having suffered for so long before he wears the club’s shirt again.’
Meanwhile, Match of the Day commentator Ian Wright labelled Zouma a ‘coward’.
The star apologised yesterday after being given a telling off by West Ham bosses over a shocking video showing him kicking and slapping his pet Bengal cat.
Before and after: Seed charity website featured Zouma but he is not visible today online
West Ham’s Kurt Zouma controls the ball during a Premier League match between West Ham United and Watford at the London stadium on Tuesday
When Zouma was on the receiving end of a particularly tough challenge, fans started singing ‘that’s how your cat feels’
French international Zouma cut a forlorn figure during the first half of the match. He reportedly earns £120,000-a-week, which amounts to £6.24million each year
Centre back Zouma was named in West Ham’s starting line up as the Hammers faced Watford in the Premier League
Even the parody account for the Downing Street cat, Larry, expressed his disgust at the club starting Zouma in West Ham’s match against Watford on Tuesday
In a grovelling statement, the 27-year-old, who only joined the east London club from Chelsea in a £29.8million deal in the summer, said he was ‘deeply sorry’ over the incident and insisted his cats were ‘loved and cherished’.
The apology comes as his club side issued their own statement, in which they ‘unreservedly condemned’ the defender’s actions.
Yet the footballer is not yet off the hook and is facing a joint police and RSPCA animal cruelty investigation.
Initially the Met Police said they would not investigate the incident, before Surrey Police said they would look into the matter. However, it later emerged the attack was filmed in the millionaire’s new £2million Essex home.
Essex police said: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media relating to an incident involving a cat which members of our communities may find distressing.
‘We have recently been made aware that this incident may have taken place in Essex and we are liaising with the RSPCA and urgent enquiries are ongoing.’
The RSPCA, which has the power to prosecute in animal welfare cases, said it was ‘aware’ of the ‘very upsetting footage’.
If Zouma was found to be guilty of animal cruelty he could face up to five years in jail and an unlimited fine.
Social media users took to Twitter yesterday to put pressure on the RSPCA and police to investigate.
The RSPCA said it had received ‘lots of messages on social media’ and other channels about the video, which was taken on Sunday – the day after Zouma appeared for the club in their FA Cup victory over non-league Kidderminster Harriers.
RSPCA bosses urged people only to come forward to them if they had ‘first hand information’ about the incident.
Addressing the video in a statement yesterday, the West Ham defender said: ‘I want to apologise for my actions.
‘There are no excuses for my behaviour, which I sincerely regret. I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video.
‘I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.
‘They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again.’
Zouma was said to have been angered after the cat caused a mess inside his house.
West Ham have said the club will ‘deal with the matter internally’. In a short statement, the Premier League club said: ‘West Ham United unreservedly condemn the actions of Kurt Zouma in the video that has circulated.
‘We have spoken to Kurt and will be dealing with the matter internally, but we would like to make it clear that we in no way condone cruelty towards animals.’
Social media users flooded Twitter with complaints about the video, urging the RSPCA to take action.
Susan Hall, a Conservative London Assembly Member, copying in both Kurt Zouma and the RSPCA, added: ‘Kurt Zouma should never be allowed to own an animal again. Disgusting, unforgivable behaviour.’
Meanwhile, a petition calling on the RSPCA to take action has now been launched. The Change.Org petition has already been signed more than 50,000 time
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: ‘This is a very upsetting video. It’s never acceptable to kick, hit or slap an animal, for punishment or otherwise.
‘We are so grateful to people who report suspected animal suffering to us and we would like to reassure people we will always look into and, if necessary, investigate any complaints made to us about animal welfare.’
The spokesperson added: ‘We have received lots of messages on social media and our other channels, so we’re urging people to only contact our national cruelty line (0300 1234 999) if they have new or first-hand information.’
The shocking footage is believed to have been filmed by Zouma’s brother Yoan, and shows Zouma dropping the cat before kicking it across the kitchen floor.
He also chases the cat around the kitchen and dining room in front of a child, all while the person capturing the video laughs hysterically.
A separate clip, obtained by The Sun, also shows the French international throwing a pair of shoes at the cat before slapping it out of a child’s arms.
The first of the clips was captioned with ‘sa commence’, which translated to ‘it is starting’.
A second clip was captioned with a series of laughing emojis.
Zouma’s brother is currently signed with National League side Dagenham & Redbridge FC, who also condemned their star’s actions in a statement.
In a statement issued on their website, club bosses said: ‘Since first becoming aware of the incident this morning the club has had discussions with Yoan and we will now take some time to consider our response, which we will of course make public in due course.
‘However, in the meantime we would like to make it completely clear that we in no way condone any form of cruelty towards animals and take this matter very seriously.
In a statement issues through the club’s website, Yoan Zouma said: ‘I deeply regret my involvement in the video that has been widely circulated and unreservedly apologise, not only for my actions, but for the upset and distress this will have caused to so many people.
‘I am now taking time to reflect on what I have done but wish to assure everyone that this was an isolated incident and not something that I am proud of.’
The video emerged the day after Zouma (pictured) appeared for the club in their FA Cup victory over non-league Kidderminster Harriers
Zouma’s brother is currently signed with National League side Dagenham & Redbridge FC, who also condemned their star’s actions in a statement. In a statement issued on their website, club bosses said: ‘Since first becoming aware of the incident this morning the club has had discussions with Yoan and we will now take some time to consider our response, which we will of course make public in due course
Chris Kirkland, a former Liverpool and England goalkeeper, also called for Zouma’s sacking.
He told talkSPORT: ‘Kurt Zouma has got to be sacked. If I was West Ham captain, I’d want to get Zouma out of the dressing room.’
The row comes just months after prison sentences for animal cruelty were raised by the Government.
In June last year, the maximum prison sentence for animal cruelty, which includes the abuse of cats, rose from six months to five years. Offenders can also receive an unlimited fine.
