A 28-year-old man has been jailed for 12 months after beating a cat to death, becoming the first person in Western Australia to receive an immediate jail term after being convicted of animal cruelty.
A second 27-year-old man, who filmed the incident, has also been charged and will face court next month.
The Tongan nationals were in Australia fruit picking on working visas and were charged after the video was uploaded to a WhatsApp chat group.
The RSPCA said the video showed the older man picking up a small black cat and attacking it with a two-metre pole.
He hit the cat repeatedly while holding it in the air and as it lay on the floor, with the animal also slammed into the ground and thrown aggressively.
RSPCA WA Inspector Kylie Green said the video showed one of the worst offences she had seen in her 10-year career.
"This was a malicious, brutal and completely merciless attack," she said.
"The level of violence directed at this small black cat is impossible to comprehend. He or she would have suffered a great deal of pain and terror."
The offender was convicted on two counts of cruelty with his sentence backdated to April 30 when he was taken into custody.
He will be eligible for parole after six months.