Man jailed for killing cat

MELBOURNE - A Melbourne man has been jailed for six months after bludgeoning his cat to death because it meowed too much.

The killer's penalty was the toughest sentence ever given in Victoria for cruelty to animals, the Herald Sun newspaper said today.

Matthew Gardeniers, 30, pleaded guilty in the Ringwood Magistrates Court to aggravated cruelty.

He bashed his cat with a spade because it meowed for 40 minutes, the paper said.

The tortoise-shell cat's skull was shattered into five pieces, it had four fractures to its jaw, its left and right legs were fractured and its neck was broken, the Herald Sun said.

RSPCA chief inspector Kevin Aposyolides told the Herald Sun the injuries to the cat were the most disturbing he had seen on any animal.

- AAP