He shot and killed the cat with an air rifle by the current Minister of Tourism and Post of San Marino Federico Pedini Amati , former Captain Regent of the small Republic. Forced to pay a very high fine, now he also risks the residence.

The protagonist is a professional cyclist: 21-year-old Antonio Tiberi, bronze at the 2018 European Championships and gold in the junior time trial at the 2019 World Championships, already competing in the Vuelta and Giro di Lombardia, Italian and resident on Mount Titano since March 2022.

Last June, according to Corriere della Sera, Tiberi fired - with a weapon purchased the week before and now confiscated - from the window of the apartment where he lives in San Marino . He hit a passing cat in the head, killing it.

Traced by cross-referencing data on residents, gun holders and the line of fire, he was ordered to pay 4,000 euros . Before the judge, in an interrogation in November , he had explained to the magistrate that he had not had any intention of killing the cat, towards which he had pointed the rifle anyway, but that he had wanted to measure the shooting ability and that he was convinced that the weapon was not lethal.

In San Marino, the penal code punishes with second-degree arrest or a fine anyone who subjects animals to torture or torture or kills them without need.

«The cat didn't bother anyone – says Pedini Amati – it had been with us for a long time. My daughter Lucia, three years old, loved it. You cannot kill a pet and get away with a 4,000 euro fine. I appreciated that the boy admitted the fact, having said that we do not need to give residence to these people ».

(Unioneonline/D)

© Riproduzione riservata