West Ham will delay RSPCA donation until probe into Kurt Zouma’s cat-kicking video is completed

West Ham want to wait for the investigation into Kurt Zouma‘s behaviour to be completed before donating the player’s maximum £250,000 fine to animal charities and sending him on animal welfare courses.

The RSPCA denied claims that they were already providing education for Zouma and maintained they had ‘not been offered or accepted a donation’.

A statement said: ‘There have been no plans made for animal welfare courses to be undertaken. Our focus remains on our officers carrying out a full investigation.’

Zouma is at the centre of an animal cruelty storm after a video which showed him kicking and slapping one of his pets went viral. His two pet cats have since been seized by the RSPCA.

West Ham remain wary of being accused of prejudicing the RSPCA investigation by arranging any donation or training course for the 27-year-old Frenchman.

David Moyes, the West Ham manager, also said he wants to make sure his player’s mental health is protected amid the ferocious backlash to the video. ‘The boy is so remorseful,’ Moyes said. 

West Ham have fined Kurt Zouma their maximum of £250,000 for his animal abuse scandal 

Zouma, has been widely condemned after a video emerged of him allegedly hitting the animal

‘We have a duty of care. Even the mental health side of things. We’re trying to make sure we give him support.’

He added: ‘He’s disappointed with his actions. He knows he made a mistake. There was a lot of talk about should he or shouldn’t he be playing. The big thing for me was how long do we leave him out of the team? When’s the right time to bring him back?’

Moyes has been criticised himself for his decision to start Zouma in the win over Watford on Tuesday, and the centre-back seems certain to start at Leicester on Sunday, where he can expect a hostile reception at the King Power Stadium.

Moyes considers fan backlash to be part of the player’s punishment. ‘What do you do?’ Moyes said. ‘Do you keep punishing people or do you give them a chance to get it right? A lot of us in life need a second chance. We’re going to give Kurt that second chance.’

David Moyes is focusing on the club’s duty of care to Zouma, believing he’s remorseful 

The West Ham defender has continued to play despite an ongoing investigation into him 

Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, insists he never feared losing the dressing room after he called out his Leicester players after their embarrassing 4-1 FA Cup defeat by Nottingham Forest.

Rodgers accused his players of lacking hunger. There were some in his squad, he said, ‘who may have achieved everything they can’.

Rodgers insisted that losing the dressing room was never a risk, ‘because the players know I give them everything’. He added: ‘From the first day here, most of these players will have signed new contracts. 

‘Their games have improved, the conditions of their lives have improved and, without being arrogant, we have developed the players to improve. But we have to keep wanting to climb the mountains. To do that, you have to be hungry. If that drops, then they know I will tell them.

‘I have got an honest group of players, and they know I will always look out for them. But you have to be harsh to be clear sometimes.’