Antonio Tiberi of Trek-Segafredo has been fined €4,000 for killing a cat with an air rifle near his home in San Marino last June.
The Italian rider admitted the crime, telling the court that he had been testing the range of the air rifle and had not intended to kill the cat. Tiberi had purchased the weapon the previous week.
“My intention was simply to measure the weapon’s shooting range, so I was targeting a no parking sign,” Tiberi said, according to Il Corriere della Sera (opens in new tab). “I also admit that I (just as foolishly and unconsciously) tried to shoot a cat. And to my surprise I actually shot it. I had no intention of killing the animal. In fact, I was convinced the weapon was non-lethal.”
The cat belonged to San Marino’s Minister for Tourism Federico Pedini Amati, who previously served as the country’s head of state for a term in 2008, and he alerted the police in the aftermath of the incident on June 21 last.
Tiberi confessed the crime when questioned by police in November, but Pedini Amati believes the punishment – a €4,000 fine and the confiscation of the air rifle – is too light, maintaining that the rider should also have had his residency revoked.
“The cat wasn’t bothering anyone,” Pedini Amati said according to Il Corriere.
“It had been with us for a long time. My three-year-old daughter Lucia adored it. You can’t kill a pet and get away with a €4,000 fine. I appreciated that the guy admitted the fact. That said, we don’t need to give these people residency.”
Changes to San Marino’s tax regime have made it increasingly popular among professional riders and other sportspeople in recent years, and Tiberi moved his residency to the country in March 2022.
The 21-year-old was junior time trial world champion in 2019 before he turned professional with Trek-Segafredo ahead of the 2021 season.
Tiberi made his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta a España, and he has enjoyed a strong start to 2023, placing 8th overall at the Tour Down Under and seventh at the UAE Tour.
The Trek-Segafredo team said they would issue a statement later on Tuesday.
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