Is one month in jail enough for the man who beat his two cats to death with golf club?

PENNSYLVANIA -- An Erie man who told investigators that he beat his two cats to death with golf clubs after feeling "betrayed" by them was sentenced on Tuesday to serve prison time for his actions.

Christopher J. Bisbee, 32, was sentenced to one month to one year in prison, followed by a year of probation, after pleading guilty in July to a second-degree misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals.

His lawyer, Eric Hackwelder, had asked Erie County Judge Shad Connelly to consider giving Bisbee a probationary sentence.

Connelly ordered Bisbee to pay a $100 fine and court costs, including $263 in restitution to the Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania; to perform 100 hours of community service; and to undergo anger management counseling and continue with mental health counseling. Bisbee is not permitted to own any domesticated animals while under supervision, Connelly said.

  

Take a good look at his mugshots. I'm sure you'll
be seeing him again on an arrest report.

Erie County detectives initially charged Bisbee with two first-degree misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after an investigation by the Humane Society that was launched in June 2013, when investigators received a tip and found bodies of the two cats in Bisbee's trash.

Hackwelder told Connelly there was no excuse for Bisbee's actions, which he called "heinous" and "disgusting." But he noted Bisbee has no prior criminal record and sought treatment for "some underlying issues" that he never addressed.

Bisbee told Connelly he was sorry for his actions, and that he sought help through counseling and will continue with it.

Connelly noted Bisbee had told a counselor his cats had scratched his neck and face and put him in a fearful state, and after cleaning himself up and returning to the room, the cats approached him again and he beat them to death.

"Surely there was a more humane and appropriate way to deal with these cats," Connelly said.

(GoErie - Oct 7, 2014)