Young woman sets her dog on kitten and it mauls him to death

Stephanie Curwen, 24, was captured on CCTV cameras walking her dog Duke near her home in St Annes, Lancashire. She was filmed laughing as it jumped up to get the kitten before mauling it to death.

The CCTV picture above shows you the exact moment that Stephanie Curwen’s Staffordshire bull terrier type dog grabbed the black kitten in his teeth and dragged him off the fence to kill him with two bites.  A post-mortem indicated that the cat, Regi, died of a punctured lung – there were 2 bite wounds.

Curwen was out walking her dog in the Lancashire town of St Annes.  Her neighbour’s cat was outside. Curwen’s dog lunged at the cat. At the time he was on a lead but Curwen released him and then laughed when her dog chased the cat.

The evidence indicates that Curwen took pleasure in watching her dog kill her neighbour’s cat and on the face of it actively encourage it.  It was entertainment for her and her dog.

The attack was stopped by another neighbour, Craig Hargreaves, who was able to pull the dog away with ease. The dog did not resist. This tells us that Curwen could have easily prevented the attack but appears to have encouraged it.

When Mr Hargreaves picked up the cat he said he felt two heartbeats and then the cat died.

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Curwen, in her defence, said that she thought her dog would not catch the cat and harm him.

The whole thing was captured on CCTV and as a result Curwen was charged with animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, prosecuted and found guilty as charged.  Her sentence would appear to be lenient by some people’s standards.  She avoided prison and was ordered to pay £200 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.  She was banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

The cat’s owner, Lesley-Anne Brockleburst, says she should have gone to prison.

“She seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure out of it so maybe it’s not the first time she’s done something like this….”

Lesley-Anne Brockleburst believes that if she’d gone to prison she would have learned a lesson,

“Hopefully then it might sink in what she did, and how cruel it was.  She’s not sorry for her actions, she hasn’t gone out of her way to apologise to me and my family.”

Mr Hargreaves, who as mentioned stopped the attack, says that Curwen does not have an ounce of respect for animals.

“I’m glad the whole thing has been sorted and she’s been punished for her actions.”

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

The picture above is of the dog’s owner Curwen.  This is the young woman who enjoyed the spectacle and does not have an ounce of remorse or regret what what she did judging by the reports that I have read on the Internet.  Above all, she does not respect animals. Her dog, sadly had the wrong owner and has not been put down but re-homed.

Source: Curwen sets her dog on kitten and kills him | Daily Mail Online

Useful tag. Click to see the articles: Cat behavior

Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.

Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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13 Responses

  1. michelle switzer says:

    Put them all in jail let them torture each other

  2. PelicanCat says:

    She should be in jail period. They should also run her out of town, what a perverted bitch!

  3. Alison says:

    I know that two wrongs don’t make a right but wouldn’t it be nice to see this horrible excuse for a human being being chased by a similar type of dog and mauled to death.yeah that actually brings a smile to my face and maybe a good laugh too so she can experience just what that poor little kitten went through..if the authorities aren’t going to give out the right penalties well maybe they should leave it up to the public as I think my penalty seems much more appropriate, what do you all think?…the only good thing to come out of this is that the dog has been re-homed and will now hopefully have a good owner and a good life..

    • Alison, I think you are one of many people who think sentencing of animal abusers is often too light and I agree with you. Sentencing needs to send out a message that violence against animals is a serious crime. Sentencing should be a deterrent to others. Often the sentencing is so light it is an encouragement to others.

  4. Dee (Florida) says:

    I couldn’t even read this article.
    I feel like puking!

  5. J. Martin says:

    I agree with everyone who’s posted so far (Eva, Michael, Michele, Irish, Dol). I can think of so many nasty things I’d like to do to this ugly, a** pink haired, heartless freak!!! She thought it was fun what she did… she has “No idea” that there are people like me…can think of far worse things to do to her. Would I feel bad doing it? NOT in the very least .. to the likes of her!!!

  6. dol says:

    Karma will get you .no condolences for the terrible agonizing pain Kittie went through .u baad piece of scum.hope you family is proud ofyou.

  7. Irish says:

    Oh Michael ye know exactly how I feel about POS’s like her who cause harm to cats/kittens,I want to shove her into a den of hungry dingo’s and let her experience wot that kitten went through until she dies!!!

  8. Michele S. says:

    Stories like this make me feel both angry and sickened. How I’d like to have 5 minutes alone in a room with that piece of scum.

    I’m hoping that karma will catch up with her very soon.

    On a side-note, this is the second time recently I’ve read of offenders in the U.K. having to pay a “victim surcharge”. Is this a recently introduced penalty fee or is it merely the financial value of the “property” of the owner?

  9. Eva D.R.Force says:

    What a horrible thing to happen.

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