Cats Protection slams Kurt Zouma parody pub crawl in Leeds

Animal welfare charity Cats Protection has slammed a pub crawl parodying Kurt Zouma’s abuse of a cat as ‘extremely sad’.

A group of lads, which some on social media have said was a Stag do, were dressed in full West Ham kits with ‘Zouma’ and his squad number of four on the back of their shirts.

They were chasing one person, believed to be the Stag, who was dressed as a cat.

One video showed them running through the streets of Leeds with another posted shortly afterwards showing the ‘Zoumas’ fake hitting and kicking the person dressed as a cat outside a branch of Cats Protection.

In a statement, Cats Protection reportedly said: “It’s unfortunate to see people mocking animal abuse, and the awful incident which led to a criminal conviction for Kurt Zouma.

“When the video surfaced, Zouma’s actions were rightly condemned, and to see people making a joke of it in a busy high street is extremely sad.”

The spokesperson said staff and volunteers at the shop did not know about the incident.

One of the videos appears to show the group running on the route of the Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds, which includes around 15 locations and is understood to be notorious for groups behaving anti-socially.

Zouma was given community service in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping a cat in court.

Cats Protection criticised the punishment handed to him reportedly saying they were ‘outraged by this act of cruelty’ at the time of his conviction under the Animal Welfare Act.

The footballer was said to be ‘extremely remorseful’ for his actions.

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