We British, who like to think we’re a nation of animal lovers, have been given an opportunity to bask in the warm glow of this reassuring self-image now that more than 150,000 people have signed a petition calling for the West Ham footballer Kurt Zouma to be prosecuted after a video emerged of him kicking his cat. Within two days of his being shamed, the RSPCA had seized Zouma’s cats and his club had fined him £250,000. One-nil to the good old animal-loving Anglo-Saxons.
However, we also ought be somewhat shamefaced that a different petition, calling for a footballer who lost a civil rape case to be released by his club, garnered fewer than 6,000 signatures. It took three days for Raith Rovers to do a U-turn on David Goodwillie’s signing.
