Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Dan Satterberg | | Judge(s): | Michael Hayden |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #15653 Rating: 1.8 out of 5
Church therapy cat stabbed, thrown into wall
Seattle, WA (US)Incident Date: Monday, Apr 20, 2009
County: King
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Tracy Clark
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A man who investigators say admitted to trying to gut a cat that belongs to a South Seattle church pleaded not guilty Wednesday [May 6, 2009] in King County Superior Court.
Tracy Clark has been charged with first-degree animal cruelty for the April 20 attack that left Scat the cat with multiple stab wounds, including a 7-inch gash on its side.
Scat has been the pet therapy cat at the Cross Church & Discipleship Center for the past eight years.
Clark told deputies the cat attacked him first, forcing him to defend himself. He said he grabbed the cat by the throat, threw it against the wall and admitted to stabbing Scat with his own knife, according to court documents.
Clark, 47, said he had enrolled in rehabilitation at the church, which offers a full-time residential discipleship program for distressed men.
Another resident of the church told investigators Clark woke him up some time after he had gone to bed on Sunday night, and said he had "gutted the cat," according to a police report.
Scat was taken to the intensive care unit at South Seattle Veterinary Hospital where employee Lisa McCollough-Dutt said the animal arrived in very poor shape.
"It makes me want to cry. Sheer horror...it's actually devastating to see a cat or anything brutally attacked," she said.
Church members said when Scat first came to the church, he was very leery of people. But over time, he became more socialized and eventually grew into a lovable therapy cat.
Scat spent 10 days at the animal hospital and, while it's having some complications, vets expect the cat to recover.
Clark is being held in the King County Jail on $50,000 bail and faces up to five years in prison if convicted as charged.
In court on Wednesday, a judge ordered that if Clark makes bail, he is to have no contact with the Scat.
Case UpdatesThe man who admitted to stabbing a church therapy cat and breaking its ribs was sentenced Friday afternoon to nine months in alcohol treatment while spending nights in jail.
Tracy Clark, 48, had pleaded guilty last month in King County Superior Court to first-degree animal cruelty.
In court Friday, Clark apologized to the pastor of the church where the incident happened -- and to Scatt, the orange and white cat he attacked. Scatt is recovering.
"I very very much regret what happened that night," Clark said.
At the time of the April attack, Clark had been living at The Cross Church at 1320 S.W. 102nd St. in White Center. Immediately after the incident Clark told another resident he'd "gutted the cat," according to court documents.
Scatt had been helping recovering substance abusers at the church for nearly a decade. He showed up as a stray and at first was leery of people, but "adopted" the staff and residents, they said.
"He would sleep on the guys' bunks, and people would feed him," Mike Stinnette, the church's rehabilitation program director, told seattlepi.com earlier this year. "He would come in when we were having service and hang out with us.
"He's part of our family."
Scatt suffered three broken ribs and a 7-inch gash on his torso. Clark told officers the cat had attacked him and he retaliated in self-defense.
When Stinnette returned from taking Scatt to the vet after the attack, Clark had packed his belongings and left the center.
"Some of the guys we deal with who come from a little harder background wanted to go take care of the guy themselves," Stinnette said earlier this year. "I was probably one of those guys. But we didn't."
Stinnette called police after seeing Clark walking in White Center and followed him until King County Sheriff's deputies arrived.
"Clark admitted to taking the cat by the throat and throwing the cat hard against the wall after it attacked him," Det. Debby Schmitz wrote in a probable-cause document.
Police said Clark, of Vancouver, admitted the knife he was found with was the one he used to stab the cat. Scatt now lives with the church pastor and is still recovering, animal rescue workers said Friday.
Sentencing Clark, Hayden ordered that he attend a day addiction-treatment program and spend his nights in jail during the nine-month term.
"Frankly," Hayden said, "I don't want to send a drunk out on work release."
Clark tried to say he was not an assaultive-type person.
"Would you explain your six prior assaults on people?" King County Superior Court Judge Michael Hayden asked.
"Drinking," Clark responded.
Hayden said he had a pretty good history of that, too, racking up about a dozen alcohol or drug offenses. Clark acknowledged his drinking was out of control, but said he was not trying to use that as an excuse.
"You are using alcohol as an excuse," Hayden said. "You're the one who drinks the alcohol you're the one who beats up people when you're drinking alcohol and now you just happen to have done it to a cat."
First-degree animal cruelty was a misdemeanor, but in the early 1990s the King County Prosecutor's Office asked the Washington State Legislature to amend the statute making cases involving deliberate acts of cruelty a felony.
"This is exactly the kind of case we had in mind when we asked for changes to the law," King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a statement earlier this year. "We know from case studies that many offenders who exhibit cruelty toward animals escalate from their violence and direct it toward people."
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Craig Peterson said he hopes the sentence sends a message that people should not hurt defenseless animals.
Scatt was treated at the South Seattle Veterinary Hospital. All veterinary care, including intravenous fluids, X-rays and extensive wound treatment, was paid for by animal rescue group Pasado's Safe Haven.
"It never fits the crime," Pasado's operations manager Brendan Brannen said of animal cruelty sentences. "The judge even knew that." | Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer - July 17, 2008
Update posted on Jul 20, 2009 - 2:42PM |
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