Cat burning was a form of cruelty to animals as an entertainment or festivity in Western and Central Europe prior to the 1800s.
People would gather cats and hoist them onto a bonfire causing death by burning or otherwise through the effects of exposure to extreme heat.
In the medieval to early modern periods, cats, which were associated with vanity and witchcraft, were sometimes burned as symbols of the devil.
[2] According to historian Norman Davies, the burning of cats was an attraction at the Midsummer's Fair in 16th century Paris.
Crowds made bonfires, jumped over them, danced around them, and threw into them objects with magical power, hoping to avoid disaster and obtain good fortune during the rest of the year.