A still from the video. (Image Credit: La Fondation Brigitte Bardot)

OFFICIALS IN FRANCE say a 24-year-old man accused of throwing a kitten, Oscar, into the air and uploading a video clip of the act to his Facebook profile faces up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine.

The video, which has since been removed from Facebook, shows the man throwing the four-month-old kitten high into the air, with another man in the background shouting “throw it really far”.

Another clip shows the cat being thrown at an apartment building wall, before plunging hard onto a concrete sidewalk.

The videos prompted an online petition for the man to face charges, and attracted over 100,000 signatures.

France’s national animal welfare association Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) is organizing a demonstration outside the courthouse where the man faces charges of animal cruelty this afternoon.

The Marseille SPA office says it is treating Oscar for a broken foot and a stomach injury suffered in the attack.