Woman pretends to be petting a cat, doesn't realize her next cruel act is filmed by a hidden camera

A woman pretending to be a cat-lover revealed herself on camera

What appeared to be a common gesture from an animal lover was revealed to be heartless cruelty when a Coventry woman was filmed stopping to pet a cat.

The scene was captured on film and posted on Youtube. In the video, a middle-aged woman stops to pet a cat sitting on a wall, then suddenly scoops it up and throws it into a garbage bin.

One detail that intrigued observers was that the woman was wearing gloves. Was the attack on the cat premeditated? If not, why was the woman wearing gloves in summer?

"I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly thought it would be funny to put it in the wheelie bin, which was right beside me. I did it as a joke"

Mary Bale, The Guardian

The scene was captured by a CCTV camera set up on the street by Stephanie and Darryl Andrews-Mann whose cat, Lola, was trapped in the bin for 15 hours. Based on this footage, the Midlands Police started searching for the woman.

The video had roused the anger of animal lovers everywhere, and all questioned what could have motivated this despicable act.

When the Police identified the woman as Mary Bale, the outrage would turn to disbelief over her comments and justification of her actions.

Read more startling stories on our Twitter account @amomama_usa

Bale, 45, believes that people are overreacting to what was, in essence, a spontaneous act intended as a joke.

Bale classified herself as a "private person" and is upset that the video is being seen all over the world. She manifested distress over the possible reaction of her nearest and dearest to what she describes as a "momentary moment of madness."

Bale apologized but commented that people were making too much out of the incident, saying "it's just a cat."

Bale stated that she has no particular animosity against cats or any other animals, and said she does not deserve to be universally hated for what she did.

Fortunately, Lola, the cat suffered no after effects from being trapped in the bin for 15 hours, but Bale still faces charges of cruelty to animals.