Cyclist Antonio Tiberi has been spared jail but fined after shooting and killing the cat of his politician neighbour with an air rifle in San Marino.
Tiberi, who riders for professional team Trek-Segafredo, claimed he was testing an air rifle when he aimed and fired at the cat’s head.
The cat belonged to his neighbour Federico Pedini Amati, San Marino’s minister of tourism and a former Captain Regent, or head of state, of San Marino.
The 21-year-old Tiberi, a junior time trial world champion in 2019 and recent resident of the tiny republic landlocked within Italy, was fined €4,000 over the incident.
”The cat didn’t bother anyone,” Pedini Amati was quoted as saying by Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper. “It had been with us for a long time. My three-year-old daughter Lucia loved it. You cannot kill a pet and get away with a 4,000 euro fine.
“I appreciated that the boy admitted the fact. Having said that, we don’t need to give these people residence.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
