It looks like Kurt Zouma is going to face repercussions for abusing his cats after all, with reports claiming his pets have been seized by the RSPCA after shocking footage showed him kicking and slapping them.

West Ham also fined him £250,000 – two weeks’ worth of wages – and have axed him from the squad for the next game (after already starting him against Watford last night; a decision that angered the footballing world and animal lovers alike).

A spokesperson for the RSCPA says they are dealing with the issue:

The two cats are now in RSPCA care. Our priority is and has always been the wellbeing of these cats.

They’ve been taken for a check-up at a vets and then will remain in our care while the investigation continues.

We’re grateful to everyone who expressed their concern for these cats. We were dealing with this issue before the video went viral online and are leading the investigation.

We continue to investigate so we cannot comment further at this time.

A petition calling for legal action to be taken against Zouma has been signed nearly 200,000 times already although the Met confirmed they are not investigating the incident. However, the RSPCA can pursue charges under their private prosecution powers.

So yeah, a fine of £200,000 might be peanuts to a Premier League footballer, but at least the cats are safe now (although even that’s debatable given the reputation of the RSPCA). Could also be that the fine and being excluded from West Ham’s next game is just the beginning of Kurt Zouma’s punishment. No doubt there’ll be some creative chanting directed at him for the rest of the season now; even during last night’s game, Watford fans chanted “that’s how your cat feels” after Zouma went down hurt following a challenge.

As I was writing this, news broke that Vitality have suspended their sponsorship of West Ham following the news. Pretty sure the club won’t be happy about that…

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Vitality have suspended their West Ham sponsorship pic.twitter.com/1BR4J8EMRC

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 9, 2022

Unfortunately Zouma will probably be angrier at his dumb relative who leaked the footage than at himself for abusing an animal in the first place, let alone a ‘cherished pet’. We’ll have to see how this one unfolds…