Cheng Lu faces court after police allege he threw his girlfriend’s cat from a Melbourne high-rise

AN angry and resentful boyfriend who allegedly killed his girlfriend’s cat by throwing it from the 45th floor of their apartment building in a fit of rage could spend two years behind bars if found guilty.

A MELBOURNE man who allegedly killed his girlfriend’s cat by throwing it from the 45th floor of their apartment building in a fit of rage could spend two years behind bars if found guilty.

Cheng Lu appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 25, charged with one count of animal cruelty and one of reckless endangerment, after he tossed the cat over the balcony of their CBD apartment building on April 30.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Kevin Taggert told the court Mr Lu overheard his girlfriend of a year complain to their housemate that he was sometimes “rude” to her and the cat.

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Angry and resentful, police claim he waited until she was away before chasing the cat, snatching it, and throwing it out of a window where it fell over the balcony edge, more than forty storeys, and then hit the pavement below.

Witnesses who saw the cat strike the sidewalk described the sound like a “firecracker” going off and were left traumatised, the court heard.

Police are also pursuing a reckless endangerment charge that could see Mr Lu face a longer stint in jail. Their argument is that Mr Lu’s actions put the safety of pedestrians on the busy street below at risk.

But Mr Lu’s defence disputed the second charge, arguing he only meant to throw the cat out of the window “to get it out of the house” rather than over the balcony’s edge.

Magistrate Roslyn Porter refused to provide a sentence indication should Mr Lu plead guilty to the charges and the case was referred to a contest mention hearing in July.

Under current legislation an individual found guilty of animal cruelty in Victoria faces imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of more than $70,000.

Mr Lu and his former girlfriend are no longer together as a result of the incident.

The RSPCA declined to comment.

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