Zouma included in the battle against Watford after the cat incident

, the RSPCA, and other animal welfare groups have condemned

Kurt Zouma

when a video emerged of him hitting, dropping, and kicking his cat across the kitchen floor.

The 27-year-old issued an apology but urgent enquiries are being done in conjunction with the RSPCA by the Essex Police.

Notwithstanding the outrage regarding the video,

David Moyes

, the club manager, chose Zouma as part of the starting XI for Tuesday’s

battle against

.

When quizzed whether the video affected his decision when choosing the line-up, Moyes told 

BT Sport

:<em>

"No, because he is one of our better players. But it is certainly ongoing and the club are dealing with it, so that is a separate matter."

The West Ham boss’s comments came out soon after a statement was released by Essex Police saying that they are doing their own enquiries about the matter.

The statement read:

"We are aware of a video circulating on social media relating to an incident involving a cat which members of our communities may find distressing.

"We have recently been made aware that this incident may have taken place in Essex and we are liaising with the RSPCA and urgent enquiries are ongoing."

The incident is believed to have been filmed by the player’s brother, Yoan, at Zouma’s home on Sunday before it was posted on Snapchat. It was a day following West Ham’s victory against Kidderminster in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Zouma picked the cat up and then dropped it while booting it into the air. He even threw a pair of shoes at the pet as it was escaping.

RSPCA, the animal welfare charity, condemned his actions before saying that the incident is being investigated.

An RSPCA spokesperson said:

"This is a very upsetting video and we'd like to reassure the public that we are investigating.

"We cannot comment further at this time but we're grateful to everyone who has brought this to our attention."

Zouma took it to social media to apologize and said that it was an isolated incident.

"

I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video,"

he said.

"I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.

"They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behavior was an isolated incident that will not happen again."

A West Ham statement said:

"West Ham United unreservedly condemns the actions of our player, Kurt Zouma, in the video that has circulated.

"We have spoken to Kurt and will be dealing with the matter internally, but we would like to make it clear that we in no way condone cruelty towards animals."

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