The RSPCA could charge footballer Kurt Zuma ‘within days’ amid outcry about him kicking his cat, according to a report.
West Ham have been heavily criticised for selecting the France international on Tuesday night – despite widespread condemnation of the incident.
Even Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has intervened to urge the club to drop the ‘cruel’ defender, as he criticised its response to a video showing the player kicking a cat.
Zouma is under investigation by the RSPCA after his two cats were taken into the care of the charity, and has been fined ‘the maximum amount possible’ by West Ham.
But the club started him against Watford in the Premier League after the video emerged of him dropping, kicking and slapping the pet.
Now a source has told The Sun: ‘The RSPCA has been working at an incredible pace — even before video of Zouma’s cat abuse went viral. There is big pressure for them to be taking decisive action after police handed them the lead on the investigation.
‘If they deem it severe enough, Zouma could be charged as quickly as next week. There’s a lot of public anger over what happened, and quite rightly, but the investigation needs to be done to the book.’
A petition calling for Zouma to be prosecuted has now topped 300,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir has criticised the club’s response to the incident, saying it ‘needs to do the right thing, which is to drop him’.
Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, the Labour leader said: ‘I don’t know what they were thinking in playing him the other night.
‘That was just a mistake.
‘It’s such a bizarre thing to be so cruel like that.
‘It’s very, very odd, but I think the club needs to do the right thing, which is to drop him.’
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Asked if football clubs in general should do more to ensure their players were held up as ‘decent role models’, Sir Keir said: ‘I think they should.
‘I think a lot of clubs do this, it is a million miles from where we were 10, 20 years ago.
‘But you know, West Ham had a choice,” he said, adding that the club should not have included him at the Watford game on Tuesday.
‘I think a lot of their own fans think they shouldn’t have played him and they made a mistake in my view’.
West Ham say Zouma has been fined the ‘maximum amount possible’ – two weeks’ wages, reportedly around £250,000 – which will be donated to animal welfare charities.
Zouma, who joined the club from Chelsea in August 2021, also released a statement, apologising for his actions and expressing his regret.
But pressure intensified on West Ham to take harsher action after Zouma’s brother was suspended by Dagenham for his part in the incident.
Yoan Zouma, 23, is reported to have filmed the video and will not play for the National League club until the RSPCA has completed its probe.
The RSPCA had swiftly slammed the ‘very upsetting’ video after it surfaced online and will be leading the investigation while co-operating with Essex Police.
The animal charity said it had been dealing with the issue before the video went viral and would continue its investigations.
West Ham previously said in a statement: ‘Kurt and the club are co-operating fully with the investigation and the player has willingly complied with the steps taken in the initial stage of the process, including delivering his family’s two cats to the RSPCA for assessment.
‘Kurt is extremely remorseful and, like everyone at the club, fully understands the depth of feeling surrounding the incident and the need for action to be taken.’
Team mate Michail Antonio’s response to the incident was widely shared yesterday, after he questioned calls for Zouma to be sacked.
The striker said: ‘I’ve got a question for you.
‘Do you think what he’s done is worse than racism? ‘I’m not condoning a thing that he’s done, I don’t agree with what he has done at all. But there’s people that have been convicted and been caught for racism, and have played football afterwards.’
An RSPCA spokeswoman declined to comment further when contacted by Metro.co.uk on Friday morning.
But a spokesperson said previously that two cats were being looked after by the organisation and would ‘remain in our care while the investigation continues.
‘We understand the high level of interest in this incident and can reassure you that our experienced officers are carrying out a full and thorough investigation’, they said.
‘Due to the fact that this is a live investigation, we are limited in what we can say, however we will provide updates when we are able.’
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