In a ruling on Tuesday, a French court found France’s national rail operator, SNCF, guilty of negligence after a departing train, seemingly intentionally, ran over a cat hiding on its tracks. The incident, which took place in January at Paris’s Montparnasse station, caused public outrage and prompted Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to express his shock.
The cat, named Neko, which means “cat” in Japanese, belonged to passengers Georgia and her 15-year-old daughter Melaina. The pet escaped from its travel bag and disappeared under a high-speed train that was preparing to depart for Bordeaux, carrying 800 passengers. Despite the passengers’ efforts to persuade the staff to rescue the cat for approximately 20 minutes, the train departed and tragically killed the feline.
Melaina, recounting the incident to the animal rights association 30 Million Friends, described witnessing the cat being sliced in half. The passengers claimed that the staff dismissed their pleas, stating that it was not their problem and suggesting that the cat should have been on a leash.
SNCF offered a free ticket to Bordeaux as compensation to the cat’s owners. However, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, an animal rights organization, raised questions of shame and subsequently filed a complaint against SNCF for “serious abuse and cruelty leading to the death of an animal.” The charge carries a potential fine of up to 75,000 euros (over $80,000) and a five-year prison sentence.
Contrary to the prosecutors’ recommendation of clearing the operator of all charges, the Paris court imposed a fine of 1,000 euros on SNCF for negligence, ruling that the pet’s killing was unintentional. Additionally, SNCF’s travel agency branch was ordered to pay 1,000 euros in damages to each of the cat’s two owners.
In response to the incident, Minister Darmanin announced that police officers in 4,000 stations nationwide would receive training to address animal trafficking and abuse.
