Mitten the cat was shot 30 times with a BB gun and tossed in her crate into a bay near Tampa, Florida all because she ate her owner's boyfriend's pet crayfish. Now named Lovey and adopted by the veterinarian who nursed the cat back to health and all the other animals in Hillsborough County may feel a little better a judge banned her former owner from ever owning animals in Hillsborough County. The boyfriend along with almost one year prison sentence, 3 years probation, and community service time was also banned for ever owning a pet.
Mildred Krack's sentencing.
As you can see from this video it seems that Mitten's owner was not upset about what happened to her cat. She doesn't seem remorseful and basically seems to care less that she will never be able to own an animal again. I know there was no evidence that she actually knew the cat was shot or thrown in the water but I would like to know how she reacted when the cat was found and pulled out of the water. She allowed this monster to watch her cat so she should be punished.
Circuit Court Judge Daniel Sleet who heard Giovanni Estrada's case said there was not enough evidence to suggest that Estrada represents a danger to the public. Nevertheless, he still needed to be punished. "You tortured a caged animal," Sleet said. "You tortured an animal that was totally defenseless." He deserve to be humiliated in public.
The judge in Estrada's case clearly wanted to send a message that it is not ok to torture a defenseless animal and that people who do so will be punished. One lingering question is who keeps and becomes so attached to a pet crayfish that they would torture another animal over its death. If he was so attached to the crayfish he should have come up with a way for the cat not to be able to get at it.
Giovanni Estrada's sentencing