Online Animal Cruelty Photo Leads To Decatur Man's Arrest

DECATUR, IL — A Decatur man was arrested and booked on preliminary animal torture charges Friday after a Facebook post showing a cat being held up by its neck was seen by a New York feline rescue center. According to Herald & Review, a 20-year-old man was tracked down and arrested Friday at his home in the 1300 block of West Wood Street, a sworn affidavit from Sgt. Matt Reynolds, the Macon County Animal Control & Care Center administrator, said. Reynolds said the cat wasn't injured and was found in the man's home during the arrest before it was confiscated by animal control officers, Herald & Review reported.

Herald & Review said Reynolds wrote in the affidavit that a 53-year-old woman who runs a feline rescue center in Stoney Point, New York contacted a dispatcher at his office and said she saw a Facebook post on a friend's page showing a hand "clenched" around the animal's neck, holding it up as if it was being strangled.

Reynolds said the man admitted to taking the Snapchat photo one month ago of himself holding his cat up by its neck, in addition to admitting to sharing the photo on his Snapchat account.

Herald & Review reported the suspect is due in court on Oct. 9. He was also booked on preliminary charges of the depiction of animal cruelty and was free after posting $5,000 bail on conditions of being forbidden from having any contact with any companion animal, the news report added.

Image via Shutterstock