This is the sickening moment a man films his ex-wife’s cat as it writhes in agony in flames after he set it on fire because it scratched him.

Another man also appears in the video, which was filmed in a back garden in the Brazilian municipality of Santa Albertina.

Both men were found and arrested by the police and taken to the police station on the morning of Saturday, 24th July.

The man who filmed the video confessed to the officers that he set the cat on fire after it allegedly bit and scratched him.

He set it on fire by dousing it in alcohol and throwing a lit match onto it, and it did not survive its injuries.

According to reports, the man told the police that he was originally just going to abandon the cat, but he opted for a more grizzly fate after it bit and scratched him.

It is likely the cat was already injured before it was set alight, as it appears almost unresponsive when it is doused with flammable liquid and the lit match is thrown on it.

It is unclear when the video was filmed, but it was sent to the cat’s owner, who is the prime suspect’s ex-wife, on 30th June.

She said she left her former husband now suspected of torturing the cat after he attacked and threatened her.

The police fined the man BRL 6,000 (GBP 841) for cruelty to animals before releasing him. They also released the other man who appears in the video.

At the time of reporting, the police planned to launch an investigation into the crime, for which the prime suspect could additionally face two to five years in prison.

It is currently unclear if the cat did indeed bite and scratch the suspect or if he tortured it as a way of getting ‘revenge’ on his ex-wife.