Over a quarter of a million people have signed the petition
CW: Animal cruelty
A petition demanding for action to be taken against
Kurt Zouma after he was filming kicking his pet cat has reached over 260,000 signatures at the time of writing.
A video obtained by
The Sun on Tuesday of the West Ham United defender kicking and slapping the pet animal circulated on social media.
Zouma apologised for the video, claiming there were 'no excuses' for his actions while West Ham United also released a statement in which they 'deeply condemned' the video.
Despite this, people were left shocked after David Moyes included the Frenchman in West Ham's starting XI for their game against Watford on Tuesday night.
Moyes tried to justify the decision by saying his selection was based on 'footballing reasons' and that Zouma had apologised to him personally.
Surrey Police also confirmed on Tuesday that they have launched a police enquiry into the incident whereas the Metropolitan Police insisted that they would not investigate the video.
Meanwhile the
RSPCA have confirmed that whilst the investigation is ongoing they will look after the two cats the Frenchman owns, who are now safe in their care.
A statement read:"The two cats are now in RSPCA care. Our priority is and has always been the wellbeing of these cats.
"They've been taken for a check-up at a vets and then will remain in our care while the investigation continues.
"We're grateful to everyone who expressed their concern for these cats. We were dealing with this issue before the video went viral online and are leading the investigation.
"We continue to investigate so we cannot comment further at this time."
Public anger at the shocking footage rumbles on as thousands demand action be taken against Zouma and a petition named
"have Kurt Zouma prosecuted for animal cruelty" has been created.
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