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Two hotel workers have been fired from the Royal Oak hotel in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales, after a cat was killed on the premises.
Officers from the RSPCA are currently investigating the incident, and spoke to staff members on Saturday, 10 December.
The investigation follows online rumours last week that the feral cat had been beaten to death with a rolling pin. Glen Evans, owner of the three-star property, strongly denied this claim to local newspaper the Daily Post, but refused to say how the cat was killed.
A statement on the hotel’s Facebook page, which has since been removed, claimed the cat was “humanely euthanised as lawfully provided for when dealing with any animal legally classified as vermin”.
Evans has since apologised and said he should have acted sooner. “We are sorry for what has happened and embarrassed that we didn’t deal with the situation as quickly as we should have,” he said.
“We didn’t in any way condone what had occurred but were waiting for the RSPCA to get back to us and, in hindsight, we should have dealt with the two individuals concerned in the incident who have now been dismissed.”
Staff who had “no knowledge or involvement in what happened”, and their families, have received threats in the wake of the incident, he added.
An online petition calling for those responsible to be prosecuted has been launched, and had attracted more than 72,400 supporters at the time of publication.
A statement from the RSPCA said: “We can confirm that we are investigating reports about the death of a cat in the Betws-Y-Coed area. This is an ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment further at this time.”
The RSPCA urged any member of the public with information to contact the organisation’s 24-hour cruelty line on 0300 1234 999.
