Woman Suspected Of Killing Kitten Arrested With Another Kitten

SOUTH GATE, CA — A woman captured on a security video spraying bug poison into the mouth of a kitten that was later found dead in South Gate was arrested Tuesday, according to South Gate Police Department. She had in her possession another kitten.

The woman was taken into custody and placed in the care of a mental health facility.

After the kitten's owner circulated photos of the woman and the dead kitten, outrage over the crime spread, and police found her in a Denny's parking lot at 5811 Firestone Ave., near Garfield Avenue.

Officers were able to confirm she was the person involved in an incident on Monday where a woman with orange hair was seen on surveillance video walking onto the porch of a home near Hildreth Avenue and Tweedy Boulevard, picking up a kitten and a can of bug spray, then spraying the kitten's mouth and fur, police said.

The animal was later found dead with a broken jaw, ABC7 reported, and neighbors reported that the suspect went to another home and asked to borrow a pair of pliers.

Residents posted flyers about the incident around the area and shared the video with authorities, including animal rights groups.

"If she can do that to a small kitten, I'm afraid of what she can do to someone else, a child or somebody she comes across," the kitten's owner, Cynthia Esquivel, told ABC7.

The suspect was arrested and taken to a mental health facility for evaluation, police said.

The kitten she was holding at the time of her arrest was unharmed and taken by animal control officers, police said.

The name of the suspect was not disclosed.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.