Police: Man Fatally Beat Cat Because 'He Didn't Want It To Scratch Anybody'
MOUNT PLEASANT (KDKA) -- A man in Westmoreland County was arrested on animal cruelty charges overnight after police say he killed a cat by swinging it around, hitting it off of a porch and punching it repeatedly.
The incident happened just after midnight at a home on Howard Street in Mount Pleasant.
Police say they are charging the suspect, Skylour Spiridigliozzi, with counts of animal cruelty and disorderly conduct.
According to the criminal complaint, Spiridigliozzi told officers he did it because he had been scratched by a cat at the home once before and got an infection, and he didn't want it to happen to anyone else.
Police were first called to the home for a report of a fight outside in the street.
Several witnesses told investigators they saw Spiridigliozzi punching and beating the cat, and that's when they called 911.
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Spiridigliozzi said, according to the criminal complaint, that the cat in this incident came up to him on the porch and tried to scratch him. Police say Spiridigliozzi allegedly picked up the animal, started swinging it around and repeatedly hit it against the porch.
The cat initially survived, but police say Spiridigliozzi then allegedly began punching the animal "until it died." He then put the dead animal in a garbage bag.
According to the criminal complaint, when officers asked him why he did it, Spiridigliozzi told them "he didn't it to scratch anybody."
Police took Spiridigliozzi into custody, and have filed multiple counts of cruelty to animals against him.
People living in the home where the incident took place didn't want to comment.
Spiridigliozzi is free on $2,500 bond.
