This story from CNN caught my attention last week. Joe Petcka, a minor league baseball player and actor, was put on trial for the death of his girlfriend's cat. After an argument, the girlfriend left the apartment leaving Joe and Norman alone. What happened next was disputed.
Joe claimed that 8 pound Norman, who his girlfriend claimed was a very friendly cat,
"had it in for him from the start of his six-week relationship with Altobelli. He testified that he fought back after the feline charged at him, bit his hand and knocked him onto a coffee table."
The prosecutor suggested that Joe was angry at his girlfriend, who cared more about the cat than him, and used savage force against the cat. His girlfriend came him and Joe was gone; Norman had crawled under the bed and died.
Joe was tried with aggravated animal cruelty, a crime recently made into a felony under New York law. Joe faced up to 2 years in jail if convicted. The statute:
[...] requires proving that someone unjustifiably attacked a pet and either aimed to cause extreme pain or mounted an "especially depraved or sadistic" assault.
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