Teen Charged With Feeding Cat to Gator

May 18, 12:48 AM (ET)


CAPE CORAL, Fla. (AP) - A teenager said he fed a neighbor's pet cat to an alligator just to see what the gator would do, police said.

The 14-year-old was arrested Friday on police charges of felony cruelty to animals and theft of the cat. He was also charged with feeding an alligator.

Police said the boy acknowledged he kicked the cat - named "Homeboy" - in the stomach and head Thursday, then threw it into the canal to feed the alligator.

The cat's owners said the boy led them to the canal, where they saw the dead cat still in the gator's mouth.

"It had him by the tail," 16-year-old Cari Taich, who said the cat slept in her bed every night. "I started crying. I couldn't breathe."

Taichs' mother, Aurea Maldonado, said the cat "was like family."

"Twelve years he's been with me," Maldonado, 48, told The News-Press of Fort Myers.

The cruelty to animals charge is a third-degree felony. If tried as an adult, the maximum sentence could be five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Prosecutors said they would decide later what court to try him in.

Cape Coral is just west of Fort Myers in southwestern Florida. Alligators, a protected species, are numerous in Florida and frequent the state's many lakes and canals.

I hope he does get tried as an adult. Morons like this need to get it drilled into their minds that doing stupid crap like this is wrong, and above all, STUPID.

Singapore's use of the cane might be a more suitable punishment, say 50 lashes?

Hang him from his toes!

The guy must be stupid. Send him to some random wise man... He'll run away confused.

I think they should feed one of his limbs to that same alligator. Preferably, the same arm he used to throw the cat to the gator. Or maybe the leg he used to kick the cat.

Originally posted by Mopoloton
I think they should feed one of his limbs to that same alligator. Preferably, the same arm he used to throw the cat to the gator. Or maybe the leg he used to kick the cat. Using that line of reasoning, we should introduce you to some of our returning soldiers so that you can see what a veteran in the prime of his life could and would do to you.

Ok...First of all this is a kid we are talking about. He does not deserve a felony conviction on his adult arrest record for this. I agree more with ES....i think he should have his buttocks whupped until he sees the light. But to put a felony conviction on a 14 year old kid makes NO sense at all. There are kids older than that who dont get felonies for murder and you people want to do this to a kid who killed a cat? Seems a little steep to me.

Juvinile court is a joke. The parents foot the bills for the kid's behaviors, no discipline is metered out. Kids learn that nothing is going to happen in court for these relatively minor infractions, and at 18 they're sealed. Save the courts for the really bad kids, send the others to ... ?

I say just hold him over the gator and let the gator bite at his legs until they are gone. Then poor salt on the wounds. When this is done poor some orange soda on the wounds. Then repeat steps one and two until he looks like the the dead cat.

Originally posted by HaVoK
Using that line of reasoning, we should introduce you to some of our returning soldiers so that you can see what a veteran in the prime of his life could and would do to you.
HaVoK, I don’t think that statement has anything to do with this topic.

nobody pulled your talk chain

Originally posted by es347fan
nobody pulled your talk chain
Excuse me es347fan, but you don’t own this forum. Therefore, I don’t need your permission to post.

Who said anything about permission?

Originally posted by es347fan
nobody pulled your talk chain

LMAO :D :D