London, Thursday

@PeopleDailyKe

The backlash over Kurt Zouma’s cruelty to his pet cat intensified on Wednesday when adidas dumped him, and sponsors withdrew support from West Ham because of their weak response to his horrific behaviour.

Zouma (pictured) was hit with the maximum fine of two weeks’ wages by his club Sh38.5m (£250,000), which will be donated to animal welfare charities — after a video showed him kicking and slapping the cat.

Sportswear giant Adidas followed that by cancelling their contract with the 27-year-old Frenchman which was understood to be worth Sh15.4m (£100,000)- a-year.

Yet West Ham are also counting the cost of their controversial decision to start Zouma in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Watford with life insurance company Vitality suspending their Sh77m (£500,000)-a-year sponsorship of the club.

Sponsors including Experience Kissimmee and Yield App are now evaluating their relationship with the east London club. Umbro condemned the abuse which was caught on camera, while Heineken said they were ‘appalled’.

The RSPCA announced on Wednesday that they had seized the cats owned by Zouma, taking them in for a medical check-up.

The pets will remain in their care until their investigation is complete and could yet be returned to the player.

As well as his public apology, Zouma has apologised to his team-mates at their Rush Green training ground. It is understood the £29.8million defender will be sent on an animal awareness course by his club as part of his punishment.

But as revealed by Sportsmail, he is not set to be dropped from their squad for Sunday’s trip to Leicester unless it emerges that the cats were injured while in Zouma’s care.

-Dailymail