Man who pepper sprayed 5 cats in Houtong arrested

New Taipei, April 15 (CNA) A man who pepper sprayed five cats in Houtong Cat Village last week "because he was in a bad mood" has been arrested on suspicion of animal abuse, New Taipei police said Wednesday.

According to a police investigation, the 28-year-old suspect, surnamed Lee (李), left his home in New Taipei's Yonghe District last Friday and took a train to Houtong carrying a bottle of pepper spray he had purchased.

At around 4 p.m., one of the village's on-site staff members noticed a pungent, acrid smell and went over to investigate, discovering five cats in a state of distress, of which four could not open their eyes.

After contacting a vet, who washed the cats' eyes with a saline solution, the cats gradually recovered, while the incident was reported to police.

According to the New Taipei Police Department's Ruifang Precinct, an investigation using surveillance video footage was able to identify Lee as a suspect in the attack.

On Tuesday, police went to Lee's home in Yonghe and brought him back for questioning, where he admitted to harming the cats "because he was in a bad mood," the precinct said.

After questioning, Lee was referred to New Taipei prosecutors to be investigated for violations of the Animal Protection Act.

Houtong is a former coal mining town in the mountains east of Taipei whose abundance of stray cats have made it a tourist attraction.