ILLINOIS -- A man accused of throwing his two pet cats out the 13th-floor window of his Near South Side apartment building was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail Tuesday.
Booker Butler, 63, has been charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty after the cats fell to their deaths Monday from his apartment at 30 W. Cermak Rd., authorities said.
Butler told police that each feline was on a window ledge as he "slapped the cat in the" posterior and "it went flying out the window," according to police.
A witness reported seeing the cats fall 13 stories from a window ledge Monday morning.
"He was told he couldn't have cats in the building. So his way of addressing the issue was to kill the cats," a police spokesman told the Chicago Tribune.
Building management officials said the high-rise in the Chicago Housing Authority's Hilliard Homes complex is being vacated and Butler was told he would not be allowed to take the cats to a refurbished high-rise nearby.
If convicted, Butler could face 1 to 3 years in prison.
(Chicago Tribune - March 3, 2004)
