A question of cruelty

Once full of life and vigor, Cabo the cat now spends his days curled

up in the corner, his spirits nearly as battered as his left eye --

the result of an alleged Aug. 20 attack by a neighbor.

Now police and the district attorney’s office are trying to decide

what to do with the man charged with attacking Cabo, a seal-point

Himalayan. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has gotten

involved, lobbying District Atty. Tony Rackauckas to impose the

maximum penalty on the alleged animal abuser.

“He was a beautiful cat that used to always go out on the sidewalk

and greet people,” said owner John Macaulay, who shares a Huntington

Harbour beachside condo with his wife of 10 years, Nancy Swain. “Now

he just sits inside. I think he’s too terrified to go out.”

The cat is also blind in his left eye.

Swain said she saw the whole thing happen. Up early to prepare for

a trip to Catalina Island, Swain was packing outside when she heard

someone walking through her apartment complex, a man she recognized

from several buildings down.

Cabo approached the man, Swain said, and the man responded by

kicking Cabo in the head, sending the cat flying into the greenery.

Police later identified the man as Kenneth Todd Clark, 37, who was

said to be under the influence of alcohol at the time, according to

the police report. Swain was cited on suspicion of animal cruelty and

released.

The Independent was unable to contact Clark.

“After he was kicked, I woke my husband up and we went searching

for Cabo. We looked for a while and couldn’t find him, but when I

returned to my apartment, I saw him sitting in front of our door,”

Swain said. “His eye was blood red, and he was in great pain.”

The cat was rushed to an emergency veterinary clinic and treated

by veterinarian William Grant.

“Physical exam revealed a proptosed [protruded] left eye and

severe swelling associated with the left temporal region of the

skull,” Grant wrote in a medical briefing on the case. “These

findings are consistent with severe blunt trauma to the head.”

Swain and her husband are now pushing for Clark to get the maximum

penalty for cruelty to animals -- a felony charge that could send

Clark to state prison for three years.

That probably won’t happen, said Orange County Deputy District

Atty. Jo Escobar, who expected Grant to be charged with misdemeanor

animal cruelty -- punishable by up to one year in county jail and a

$20,000 fine.

Escobar said the difference between felony and misdemeanor animal

cruelty generally relates to the level of injury to an animal and is

left to the discretion of the prosecuting attorney. The district

attorney’s office also considers the criminal history of the

defendant and the facts of the crime.

“To charge someone with a felony is really saying this individual

should go to state prison for this crime,” Escobar said.

Animal cruelty crimes vary in severity, said Huntington Beach

Police Lt. Craig Junginger. Junginger has heard of cases involving

people who neglected large numbers of caged animals or tortured

animals over a period of time.

In August, a San Francisco man was charged with misdemeanor animal

cruelty for cutting his pit bull’s ears off with a razor blade, and a

Placer County man was charged with felony animal cruelty in June for

intentionally maiming Canadian geese so they couldn’t fly off his

property.

In April, police launched a search for individuals who might have

been involved in a series of pelican mutilations in Huntington Beach.

A $6,000 reward has been posted to help find the perpetrators, who

could face felony charges of harming an endangered species.

Officials with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

have written an open letter to Rackauckas arguing that abusing

animals usually leads to harming people. The animal rights activists

are asking that Clark be incarcerated and banned from owning animals.