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Case #1967 Rating: 3.3 out of 5
Cat put in oven heated to 250 degrees
West Saint Paul, MN (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Oct 21, 2003
County: Ramsey
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Joseph Grant Holupchinski
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A man accused of putting a cat in an oven heated to 250 degrees in a West St. Paul apartment has been charged with felony animal cruelty.
The domestic shorthair orange tabby, Maddy, survived, said Emily Kinney, a vet technician at Animal Emergency Clinic in St. Paul, where the cat was treated. Kinney said she was not at liberty to divulge where the cat now lives, but she said the cat has been renamed Pumpkin.
Joseph Grant Holupchinski recently was charged with felony animal cruelty, punishable by up to two years in prison and misdemeanor theft. The 20-year-old Bloomington man could not be reached for comment.
Here is what happened, according to the Dakota County criminal complaint:
A woman called police Oct. 22 and reported that Holupchinski came to her residence at about 11:30 p.m. the previous night, and she later fell asleep. At 2:43 a.m., she was awakened by the sound of her cat crying in distress and found her cat in the heated oven. The woman also noticed that her DVD player was missing and the cord had been cut. Holupchinski later left the woman voice mails apologizing for what occurred.
The cat lost her paw pads and tail hair and suffered burns on her stomach and eyelids, according to the criminal complaint. The pet owner voluntarily agreed to surrender her cat to the clinic, Police Chief Terry Cook said.
Holupchinski and the woman had a "significant personal relationship" and had met two or three months prior to the incident, Cook said.
Cook said the incident occurred on Oakdale Avenue and that police reports indicate it happened Oct. 20, not Oct. 21 as indicated on the complaint.
Cook said he was not aware of any past reports of animal cruelty involving the suspect.
Case UpdatesJoseph G. Holupchinski, convicted of putting a pet cat into a heated oven, was sentenced last week to a year in jail. Holupchinski also was placed on probation for two years after he pleaded guilty in Dakota County District Court to a single count of gross misdemeanor animal cruelty.
Judge Richard Spicer stayed Holupchinski's jail term pending no further violations but ordered the 20-year-old to serve three days in the Dakota County Jail.
In addition, Holupchinski was ordered to serve seven days with a "Sentenced to Serve" crew working on community projects such as highway cleanups.
Spicer also fined Holupchinski $100 and ordered him to pay $339 restitution. He must also undergo a psychological evaluation and write a letter of apology to his former girlfriend. He was also prohibited from owning pets.
Holupchinski initially pleaded guilty to a felony count of animal cruelty, but withdrew that plea at a sentencing hearing in December.
According to court records, the cat's owner and Holupchinski had dated. The woman invited Holupchinski to her apartment in West St. Paul Oct. 21, 2003.
After an argument, the woman went to bed, the woman told police. Later the cat's wailing awoke her and she found it in the oven, court documents state. It had been heated to about 250 degrees.
The cat was taken to an area emergency veterinary hospital where it was treated for severe burns.
The orange tabby survived but lost its eyelids and most of the padding on its paws, court records indicate. The cat also suffered burns on its belly, ears and tail.
Had Holupchinski been convicted of felony-level animal abuse, he could have received a two-year prison sentence.
The woman surrendered the cat to authorities, who placed it with a family. | Source: MN Sun - March 17, 2005
Update posted on Mar 21, 2005 - 8:42AM |
| He will be in court June 2004 for a pretrial hearing. | | Update posted on Jun 11, 2004 - 6:22AM |
References
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