CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #5055 Rating: 2.6 out of 5
Cat's ear and foot pads cut off, tendon cut
Stillwater, OK (US)Incident Date: Friday, Aug 2, 1996
County: Payne
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: William Buckey Britton
William Buckey Britton, 22, of Howe, LeFlore County has pleaded no contest to animal cruelty and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Britton will not have a criminal record if he succesfully completes probation. He made "a sizeable contribution to the Stillwater Humane Society" prior to his sentencing. The amount he donated was not provided.
Britton was on leave from a Marine Corps boot camp and was staying with friends in Stillwater at the complex where Whiskers lived.
Britton has been charged with torturing the cat around August 2 or 3, 1996, by cutting off the cat's right ear, cutting the tendon on his right front leg, cutting the pads of his rear feet and shaving his body.
Whiskers is a 1-year old male black and white cat. He was found Aug 3, 1996, in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 140 North Perkins. He couldn't walk because his hind paw pads had been almost sliced off.
Britton allegedly admitted to a friend that "he had shaved a cat and cut its ear off."
The district attorney said "I wanted him to have a felony hanging over his head and undergo counseling. That's been accomplished. If he ever does anything like that again, we'll yank his chain."
The Animal Control Supervisor, Mary Dickey, said "I'm sorry to hear he got a deferred sentence. I wish it would have been at least a suspended sentence so that he would have a criminal record."
Whiskers is still with the Okahoma State University student who adopted him. He's happy.
Dickey said there was a possibility that Britton might give the Humane Society $10,000. She said she did not know how much money he actually donated. "The reason for the money was not to lighten his sentence. There is no victim restitution fund for cats. This would be the closest thing -- to do something for strays."
The maximum penalty for animal cruelty is a five year prison term and a $500 fine. References
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