Farm workers Max Loketi and Trevita Fifita Vaenuku facing animal cruelty charges after torturing cat

A pair of Tongan fruit pickers working at a farm in the State’s South are facing animal cruelty charges after a video emerged of a cat being viciously beaten and tortured with a pole. Hamel farm workers Max Loketi and Trevita Fifita Vaenuku were charged after the incident was allegedly recorded on one of the men’s phones and uploaded to a group conversation on the mobile messenger application WhatsApp. The video, believed to have been filmed on March 6, allegedly shows Mr Loketi, 28, picking up a small black cat and beating it repeatedly both in the air and on the ground with a 2m pole. Mr Vaenuku, 27, is accused of recording the brutal attack on his phone and can allegedly be heard laughing and encouraging his co-accused. The two men, originally from Tonga, were working as fruit pickers on the farm under a 403 short-term working visa. RSPCA WA said the alleged video came to the attention of their employer, who immediately reported it to police. The pair were arrested by Waroona police on April 29 and appeared in Northbridge Courthouse the next day, but had their matter adjourned as there was no Tongan interpreter available. The matter was adjourned again after a brief appearance in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday. They are yet to enter a plea and have been remanded in custody to appear again in Perth Magistrates Court on May 11. Both have been charged with two counts of cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act. The maximum penalty for an animal cruelty charge is a $50,000 fine and five years in prison.