Cat woman indicted for cruelty

A woman who was supposedly filmed on CCTV dumping a cat in a litter bin has been charged. Mary Elizabeth Bale, 45, stands accused of animal cruelty after the incident in the Midlands town of Coventry last month.

Miss Bale, a bank clerk, has now been charged with two animal cruelty offences by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). A spokeswoman, RSPCA, said Hale faces two charges: one of causing needless suffering to an animal, and a second of placing an animal in an unsuitable environment.

The accused woman is alleged to have been filmed stroking the four-year old tabby, Lola, before tossing it into a green wheelie bin.

Lola remained in the bin until she was rescued by her owners, Darryl and Stephanie Andrews-Mann, after her 15-hour ordeal in captivity. When she was removed from the bin, Lola was coated in her own waste.

After the CCTV footage became public and local press identified her, Bale was vilified by animal lovers, causing her to be placed under police protection.

In interviews with local press reporters Bale said that tossing Lola in the litter was meant as a prank. She apologised to the Andrews-Manns for any distress she had caused them.

Miss Bale is scheduled to appear before judges at Coventry Magistrates Court on October 19. If she is found guilty she could be banned for life from keeping animals and receive jail time.