I first mentioned the story of a Wal-Mart worker shooting a stray cat in the face back in December. There's now a chance that justice might be served:
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A former Wal-Mart employee accused of shooting a cat to death will face felony charges after all.The animal cruelty charge against Christopher S. Anderson had been dropped to a misdemeanor, but Anderson's attorney, Michael C. Keating, said Friday that a Vanderburgh County judge had dismissed that charge.
Keating said the judge ruled Anderson could not be charged with a misdemeanor unless he had beaten the cat rather than shot it. Prosecutors then refiled the felony charge.
Keating acknowledged that his client shot the cat, but said the charge was out of proportion to the crime and that Anderson would fight it.
Indiana's felony animal cruelty statute requires a finding that a defendant knowingly mutilated or tortured an animal.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Anderson, 29, and another former store employee, Jeffrey Hardin, 21, on Dec. 28.
Anderson told investigators that he shot the cat with a pellet gun after the store manager ordered employees to get rid of the animal, which was living in a storage trailer behind the store on the city's east side.
The cat was wounded but survived, a sheriff's report said, and the next day Anderson and Hardin repeatedly shot the cat with a pellet gun until it died.