"I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I thought, ‘That’s not real,'" Webb said. "It's disgusting seeing a domesticated animal killed for no reason. It's ridiculous. It's just not right."
Around 9 a.m. St. George resident Lee Webb’s chihuahua was standing in front of the doggy door that exits into the backyard when he began barking wildly.
“I didn’t think it was anything at first,” Webb said. “He started going crazy at the doggy door and then he ran out.”
Just outside his back door a kitten lay dead with two 6-inch darts – sharpened spikes made of steel with plastic ends – protruding from its head. At first he thought the cat was fake, but then he touched the cat and found it to still be warm.
“I didn’t think it was anything at first,” Webb said. “He started going crazy at the doggy door and then he ran out.”
The darts had long metal spikes with plastic ends, he said. Two were in the kitten's head, and Webb found several others in his yard.
“It had just happened,” he said. “I covered the cat with a cloth and called animal control.”
Previous to this incident Webb found additional darts laying in his backyard which he had suspected were aimed at his dog, but his dog has never been hit.
“I love animals. They trust people,” Webb said. “Little kittens are trusting souls that don’t need to be put down like that.”
"It's disgusting," he said. "Seeing a domesticated animal killed for no reason whatsoever is ridiculous. I think there should be jail time for that and not just a slap on the hand. It's just not right."
Previous to this incident Webb found additional darts laying in his backyard which he had suspected were aimed at his dog, but his dog has never been hit.
“I love animals. They trust people,” Webb said. “Little kittens are trusting souls that don’t need to be put down like that.”
"It's disgusting," he said. "Seeing a domesticated animal killed for no reason whatsoever is ridiculous. I think there should be jail time for that and not just a slap on the hand. It's just not right."
St. George police spokesman Sam Despain said officers interviewed several residents in the neighborhood Friday evening. A 16-year-old boy was questioned, and officers found probable cause that he was involved in the incident, Despain said.
The 16-year-old was referred to juvenile court and will face animal cruelty charges, police said.
The kitten was a community cat and didn't belong to anyone, but wandered through the neighborhood at random, Webb said.
"(Pets) don't know any better," he said. "They expect us to be nice to them. They don't expect you to kill them. Especially kittens, they'll come right up to you and rub your leg and they'll be wanting water or milk and then you stick a dark in their head? Come on."
(Deseret news - June 23 2014)
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