Three kittens stomped to death
Santa Maria, CA (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Apr 13, 2009
County: Santa Barbara

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: David Harold Pierce

A man accused of stomping three kittens to death was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on the charges.

After listening to emotional witness testimony for nearly an hour, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Jed Beebe determined that enough evidence exists to try David Harold Pierce on multiple counts of animal cruelty.

A frail-looking Pierce, who is in his mid-60s, slowly shuffled into the courtroom and kept his head bowed throughout the duration of long-time Orcutt resident Cheryl Mouyeos' turn on the witness stand.

"It all happened so fast," Mouyeos said, her voice breaking.

She paused to dab her eyes with a tissue before continuing.

"I was yelling at him (Pierce). I was screaming at him to stop and asked him what he was doing."

On April 13, Pierce allegedly took three kittens to the parking lot of Spencer's Fresh Markets in Orcutt, where he proceeded to step on the tiny felines until they died.

Mouyeos (pronounced "moy-us") testified that she had just pulled into the parking lot when she noticed Pierce dump something out of a bag.

"It was something moving. That's what got my attention," she said. "I thought it was strange that someone was dumping something on the ground that was moving."

The three kittens, which Mouyeos said she initially mistook for "pet rats or something," fell out of Pierce's bag.

They attempted to crawl in different directions before Pierce lifted his work-boot-clad foot to stomp on two of the kittens twice and one of them once, Mouyeos told the court.

Despite her impassioned pleas for him to stop, Pierce continued to trample the kittens.

"He was stomping on them, and he was still stomping on them when I got out of the car," Mouyeos said.

At that point, Mouyeos said, she pushed Pierce to get him away from the animals.

Though she initially feared Pierce would attempt to get back in his car and run the kittens over, he instead turned around and returned to the front of the market to await Santa Barbara County Sheriff deputies.

The kittens stopped moving just as deputies arrived, Mouyeos said.

When Mouyeos asked him why he hadn't contacted the pound, Pierce just "had this strange look on his face" and said, "'I called the pound but they wouldn't pick them (the kittens) up. I don't like cats,' " Mouyeos testified.

Prosecutor John MacKinnon and defense attorney Tom Allen declined to comment on the case or even whether a psychologist has evaluated the defendant.

"We'll just let the evidence speak for itself at this time," Allen said.

The suspect will appear in court again May 6.

References

• « CA State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Santa Barbara County, CA

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