UP student convicted of animal cruelty for killing a cat and blogging about it

A physics major from the University of the Philippines, Joseph Carlo Candare, was convicted last week for killing a cat named "Tengteng" in 2009 and blogging about it. Although he pled innocence to charges of animal cruelty, he was sentenced to two months of volunteer work for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and fined P2,000.

In April 2009, Candare was in his second year in the UP National Institute of Physics (NIP) when he blogged about pulling a cat's tail, throwing the cat and jumping on it "like some pro wrestler." He admitted that it was not the first time he killed a cat and said that "it feels good" when he's beating up one.

Candare, 19 at the time, also blogged, "It didn't occur to me back then that the cat had a leash. So I think somebody owns it. Well it's very well loved in NIP from what I heard and I just ended its life. So there you go, I'm sorry. I won't be striking another one for maybe about a month." He later deleted his blog but screen grabs have been posted on news sites and his blog's contents may be accessed through Google's web cache.

Candare soon became under fire for his act, and PAWS filed a case of animal cruelty against him. PAWS Executive Director Anna Cabrera told the press last week, "I think to his credit, Joseph Candare wants to change. I think he has learned his lesson." She added, "Animal cruelty is a serious thing... When we help pursue cases against animal cruelty, we're helping people from turning violent. It's not just a victory for animal welfare advocates but for our society."

Even before Candare's conviction, UP has been reviewing its code of conduct for students, according to reports. UP President Alfredo Pascual said, "There is no provision in the code that a violation of Philippine laws could lead to a separate penalty under the Code of Student Conduct and Discipline." But, he said, "Of course, our students are expected to obey UP’s rules and the laws of the land."

According to the press, the case was the first successful conviction of a person accused of animal cruelty in the country.

From SPOT.ph