It’s been about a month since a pretty grotesque video of West Ham footballer Kurt Zouma kicking his cat across the kitchen made the rounds on social media. Nothing really seems to have happened to the guy either – his animals were taken away and he was fined £250,00 sure, but he wasn’t dropped and everyone was cheering for him in the game against Wolves at the weekend – but the consequences of his actions may have been more far reaching than anyone previously thought.

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The RSPCA today revealed that they were fearful of Kurt Zouma copycats (no pun intended) abusing animals after they saw his actions up on social media and deemed that it was acceptable for them to beat up animals as well. The warning comes after reports that RSPCA had heard about a new craze of people filming themselve ‘pulling a Zouma’ and then posting the resulting videos up in online groups. That sounds a bit dumb to me considering how much of a backlash Zouma got, but I suppose if you’re sharing it with other like minded sickos then it’s possible and probably happening somewhere in the murky depths of the internet.

Dawn and Katie Stacey fear that their cat Murphy may have been a victim of the craze after he arrived home in the cat flap completely covered in blood. He eventually had to have his right eye amputated and the Staceys had to spend £2000 in veterinary fees on fixing him up. Heartbreaking.

Here’s what they had to say about it:

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I heard Murphy trying to get through the cat flap. I came outside to help and I had the shock of my life.

The right side of his face looked like a helmet full of blood.

We’ve had Murphy since he was a kitten after his mum Bleu gave birth to him and his brother.

He’s a lovely, friendly animal, but his injury has affected his mood and personality. He looks to have lost his bearings due to only having one eye.

Geez that really is sad isn’t it? If this isn’t an isolated attack and other people are actually following Zouma’s lead all over the country/world then it highlights just how important it is for footballers to act as role models and not film themselves doing disgusting shit like beating up animals. Whether any of them will take any notice of this is anyone’s guess though.

For more of the same, check out these pictures of stoner cats smoking weed. A much happier time for everyone involved.