Cyclist Antonio Tiberi escaped jail but was fined after the politician shot and killed his neighbor’s cat with an air rifle. San Marino.
Equestrian for the professional Trek-Segafredo team, Tiberi claimed she was testing the air rifle when she aimed and fired at the cat’s head.
The cat belonged to San Marino’s neighbor, Federico Pedini Amati, minister of tourism and a former Captain Regent or San Marino head of state.
Tiberi, 21, who was the junior time trial world champion in 2019 and was recently a resident of the small landlocked republic in Italy, was fined €4,000 for the incident.
“The cat didn’t offend anyone,” said Pedini Amati. Corriere della Sera newspaper. “He’s been with us for a long time. My three-year-old daughter Lucia loved it. You can’t kill a pet and get away with a 4,000 euro fine.
I appreciated the boy’s acceptance of the truth. Having said that, we don’t need to give these people housing.”
Additional reporting by Reuters