Kitten beaten, kicked, set on fire by 2 teens Flowery Branch, GA (US) Incident Date: Monday, Jul 5, 1999 County: Hall Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abusers/Suspects: » Name Undisclosed » Name Undisclosed Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 4326 Classification: Burning - Fire or Fireworks, Beating, Kicking/Stomping Animal: cat View more cases in GA (US) Login to Watch this Case

The two boys ages 13 and 14 were found guilty of animal cruelty and criminal damage to property. The names were not released due to their ages.

Hall County Juvenile Court Judge Cliff Joliff said he found the photos of the dying kitten so upsetting that he had to delay sentencing.

A psychiatric evaluation has been ordered for both boys. They could face 90 days each in a boot camp, community service and restitution.

Judge Jolliff said after finding the boys guilty "It's hard for me to understand why you did this, what you were possibly thinking."

"You've got to know you're going to have to earn every dollar .... to pay Dr (Dick) Smiley's bill." Dr Smiley, the veterinarian, is owed $670. "You guys had better be thinking about what you're going to say to the Fetterolf family."

Apologies and sentencing has been postponed until counselors complete psychological tests of the two boys. They will both remain under house arrest at their homes until then.

Random drug testing is also ordered by the judge, including an immediate test. There was testimony that at least one of the boys smoked marijuana shortly before igniting the gas soaked cat with a cigarette lighter.

Judge Jolliff hopes to conclude the case before school starts on the 24th of August.

Lisa Fetterolf, who owned the 3-month old tabby cat named Dunkin criticized authorities for releasing the boys to their mothers' custody. Her daughter, Amanda, 14, thought they should have been immediately sentenced to seven years, a cat's minimum average life span.

The prosecution witnessess testified to one of the boys swinging the kitten by its hindquarters and kicked it in the head before Fetterolf's children forced them to leave their property.

Later the boys returned, book a can of gasoline from a shelf behind the Fetterolf's home, poured it over Dunkin and set him on fire. The fire also went up the side of the Fetterolf's home before the Fetterolf's legally blind son put out the fire with a hose.

Some of the people wept or looked away as the veterinarian detailed the cat's burns which included exposed veins and bone. The kitten died about a week after the the boys absued and set it on fire.

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References

	The Augusta GA Chronicle - July 23, 1999
	Atlanta Journal-Constitution - July 23, 1999

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