Charges Dropped in Cat Cruelty Case

The Los Angeles city attorney on Monday dropped criminal charges against a 76-year-old Reseda man who was accused in July of cruelty to animals after neighbors said he beat two kittens to death.

Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek said he asked the court to dismiss two counts of animal cruelty against Hans Christian Egsgaard because the witnesses who made the claims against him could not be located.

“Our witnesses disappeared. We have been searching for them and they can’t be found,” Cocek said. “With no witnesses, we have no case.”

According to police, a neighbor heard the animals’ screams and looked into Egsgaard’s backyard where she allegedly saw him strike the animals with a blunt object before disposing of their bodies in a trash can.

Egsgaard was arrested July 17 after officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division found the bodies of two kittens in a trash can on his property.

But Egsgaard’s attorney said Monday that his client disposed of the kittens after they were killed by the dog of the neighbor who made the complaint.

“Mr. Egsgaard is delighted. He has denied these charges from the beginning. This is case that should never have been filed in the first place,” said his attorney, Michael A. Goldstein.

Had he been convicted of the charges, Egsgaard faced up to two years in jail and $40,000 in fines. The constitutional protection against double jeopardy prevents prosecutors from refiling charges against Egsgaard, even if the witnesses reappear, Cocek said.