Cat sodomized, tortured to death
Westland, MI (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Apr 4, 2008
County: Wayne

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Todd Treviso

A Westland man charged with sodomizing, torturing and killing a cat will stand trial in Wayne County Circuit Court on May 1. He faces more than 15 years in prison if convicted.

Todd Treviso, 18, was detained on a $50,000 cash bond after his arraignment April 9 for torturing, sexually abusing and killing a male cat, Magic, in the early morning of April 4. There was no testimony at this morning's preliminary hearing.

Sgt. Debra Mathews said the homeless youth confessed in interviews with Westland police to using duct tape to attach the cat's front and back paws together. He also said he used duct tape to keep a sock in the cat's mouth while he sexually abused the animal with his fingers. Treviso was staying with a family on the 2000 block of Stieber, near Wildwood and Palmer. The family had offered him a room until he found a place of his own.

Mathews said the 18-year-old high-school dropout had been living with a young couple, the woman's father and his young son after knowing them for less than a month. Police would not disclose the names of the people living in the house.

"The woman offered him a ride one day and asked where he needed to go. He told her he was homeless." Mathews said. "His mother evicted him, so the woman said he (Treviso) could live with her and her family for a few days."

Mathews said Treviso extended his stay by weeks.

The same couple who had taken Treviso into their home took Magic in after they had found the long-haired gray and white cat wandering through their neighborhood.

"They were trying to be nice," Mathews said. "They thought Magic's owner moved."

Suzanne Castro had owned Magic for nine years and lives three duplexes away from the couple. She said Magic went missing the day before the incident and that she had been looking for the cat until her 14-year-old daughter identified her pet's body on her way home from school.

Castro said, "That Thursday, he wasn't running up to the door. I went looking for him for about four hours."

When police came to the young couple's home Friday afternoon, Treviso lied to police about his name. Several interviews later, while jailed that weekend, Treviso told police he threw Magic from a room in the duplex at about 3 a.m.

At about 5 a.m., the cat was found dead on a neighbor's porch several duplexes away. The family living at the residence called Westland's Animal Control Center. Later that morning, a family member at that duplex told the couple about the cat found on the porch.

"The woman realized it was my cat," Castro said. "She connected the dots."

Castro said the woman told her she ran inside and noticed that their only roll of duct tape was missing from where she last placed it.

Before calling the police, Castro said, the woman noticed sticky residue on her pit bull's wrists.

When police arrived at the couple's home and questioned Treviso, he lied about his name, Mathews said.

Treviso was arrested when police discovered he had a warrant for his arrest on larceny out of Westland.

Mathews said tests are being done on the couple's dog, which could lead to more charges for Treviso.

The Michigan Humane Society's Westland branch conducted an examination on the cat before he was returned to Castro.

Castro said she buried Magic on Monday and was asked for his body again Tuesday for more tests. She reburied him again Wednesday.

"My 7-year-old thinks a car hit him," Castro said. "I can't tell her the truth."

MHS Spokesperson Stephanie Baron said that heinous acts of animal cruelty should concern the community, especially when it involves a young adult.

"Of greater concern is events like these are rarely isolated incidents, but are often predecessors of additional and greater acts of violence towards animals and people," Baron said.

Mathews said Treviso hadn't harmed the child living with the young couple.

In Michigan, sodomy to a person or animal is a felony punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, Mathews said.

Killing an animal is punishable by four years in prison in addition to 500 hours of community service and $5,000 in fees plus veterinary charges.

Mathews said she dealt with a similar case five years ago, but the animal survived.

"If Treviso did this to an animal he would have moved on to a human, eventually," Castro said. "I think Magic saved another human from violation, or even death."

References

• « MI State Animal Cruelty Map

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