Italian Cyclist In Hot Water For Killing Minister's Cat

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An Italian cyclist is in hot water for shooting and killing a tourism minister's family cat. Antonio Tiberi, a 21-year-old who rides for Trek-Segafredo - don't ask - has been fined over $4,000 and suspended 20 days without pay after admitting to killing his neighbor's cat with an air rifle.

Yep. That'll do it every time!

That neighbor also just happened to be Federico Pedini Amati, otherwise known as San Marino's tourism and posts minister and a former joint head of state of the country.

Whoops.

"The cat didn't bother anyone," Pedini Amati told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. "It had been with us for a long time. My 3-year-old daughter, Lucia, loved it. You cannot kill a pet and get away with a 4,000-euro fine."

Cyclist Antonio Tiberi shoots neighbor's cat

That's a fair point, if we're being honest. Murdering an animal should probably come with a little harder slap to the wrist than a couple-thousand dollars fine and a three-week suspension. Lord knows PETA ain't happy.

So, how did it all go down? Apparently, Tiberi tried out an air rifle by pointing it at the cat's head and firing. Seems like a pretty avoidable situation if you ask me, but what do I know?

Maybe test that bad boy out on the grass or something first? If you HAVE to test it out on a living animal, which, again, seems pretty avoidable, the least you could do is maybe not use its head?

Seriously, it's literally the least you could do in that situation.

"I deeply regret my shameful actions. I did something tremendously stupid and irresponsible, the seriousness and danger of which I realized only after the act," he said in a statement. "I don't want to make excuses. There is no 'if' or 'but.' I take full blame for my actions and fully accept the consequences."

I did something tremendously stupid and irresponsible, the seriousness and danger of which I realized only after the act.

What a sentence.

Anyway, the good news is Tiberi will donate all of his prize money this season to animal welfare organizations in San Marino.

So, you know, there's that.

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Zach grew up in Florida, lives in Florida, and will never leave Florida ... for obvious reasons. He's a reigning fantasy football league champion, knows everything there is to know about NASCAR, and once passed out (briefly!) during a lap around Daytona. He swears they were going 200 mph even though they clearly were not.