Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Cat beaten, throat slit, left in dumpster

Cat beaten, throat slit, left in dumpster
Baileyville, ME (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Sep 23, 2005
County: Washington
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abusers/Suspects:
» John B. Dewar, II
» Ted MacArthur - Alleged
» Brent C. Carlow - Alleged

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 5680

Classification: Beating, Stabbing

Animal: cat

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Animal was offleash or loose

Three teenage boys have been arrested on felony charges that they killed a 15-year-old family cat.

The three, two from Baileyville, ages 14 and 15, and a 16-year-old from Princeton, were arrested in�late September �on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals after police determined that they had killed a cat owned by Michelle Gallant and her family.

"We were able to determine that it was killed at the hands of the juveniles," Police Chief Philip Harriman said. "It is difficult to say exactly what caused its death."

Officials did not perform a necropsy on the animal, Harriman said.

All three, whose identities were not released because of their ages, have been released into their parents' custody.

The cat, named Pepper, had been a part of the Gallant family since she was a kitten.

According to a tearful Michelle Gallant, the cat disappeared last week after one of the boys was seen holding the animal outside the Gallant home.

"We saw one of the boys with the cat in his hands, walking away with it," she said. "My son said, 'Put down our cat,' and he did, and my son said, 'Thank you.'"

The cat was a friendly animal and enchanted the customers at Gallant's home beauty shop, many of whom have cried with the owner since learning about Pepper's fate.

"All my customers adored her; when they came through the door she would run to them," Gallant said. "She was a real friendly cat. That was the only way they got her. She went with them because she trusted them."

It was not unusual for Pepper to disappear on a summer night to go hunting. When the cat had not returned in a few days, however, Gallant grew concerned and mentioned it to a friend at a high school soccer game.

A girl overheard her conversation and, after the game, told the friend she had heard students talking about witnessing a cat being killed.

Gallant knew the boy the girl had referred to and confronted him. He denied the tale and she believed him.

"We knew him. He had played soccer with my son," she said.

Shortly afterward, the boy's mother called and said he had confessed to witnessing the killing.

Police questioned the three boys and determined that they had killed the animal.

"She didn't deserve this," Gallant said. "She was a loving part of our family. She deserved more than this. She should have been allowed to go in her own time and not be taken from us by these cowards."

The boys initially said they had thrown the cat over a fence, and Gallant and her family searched the area.

Eventually, Harriman said, the boys confessed that they had left the cat in a dumpster near a local business.

"We were able to recover the cat so it could be buried," he said.

The cat was buried in a field near a family home.

The boys have been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, which is a felony. A drafting error had caused the charge to be listed as a misdemeanor in Maine until the Legislature earlier this year reinstated it as a felony.

"I just wish they could feel one bit of the pain that I feel," Gallant said. "They've taken something from us that we'll never get back. But I believe they need help - counseling."

No date has been set for the boys to appear in court. That will likely be scheduled in December, Harriman said.

Case Updates

"Couldn't they see that she wanted to live?" a tearful Michelle Gallant of Baileyville told a 4th District Court judge Thursday during the sentencing of a 14-year-old Baileyville boy who admitted he had a role in the torture and killing of her 15-year-old cat, Pepper.

John B. Dewar II, who was charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, was sentenced to the Maine Youth Center in Charleston until the age of 18.

But the judge suspended the sentence and placed Dewar on probation with the condition that he complete his stay at a residential treatment program.

Dewar has been at KidsPeace in Ellsworth and, according to his attorney, Rich McNamara of Eastport, has made progress there.

According to its Web site, KidsPeace is a private, nonprofit charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, preadolescents and teens.

Dewar, who was accompanied in court Thursday by his mother, Tracy Bohanan, did not apologize to the family when Judge John Romei asked if he had anything to say. He was seen laughing and smiling when he left the courthouse.

The trials for Dewar's companions, Ted MacArthur and Brent C. Carlow, both 16 of Baileyville, are expected to begin Tuesday.

During sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Joelle Pratt said the three told investigators different stories, but for one consistent fact in the Sept. 23 incident: The cat was tortured and killed.

In her summary, Pratt said Carlow told police the three went to Dewar's house. Dewar "went in, got a knife."

"Mr. MacArthur held the cat down, hit it with a wooden stick and the cat ran, and Mr. Dewar ran after it," she said. "Mr. Dewar brought the cat back to the scene, tried to cut its throat and stab [her] in the side, and it ran off again. Mr. Dewar hit it in the head with a stick, it started quivering, then Mr. Dewar threw a large rock on the cat and it ceased moving."

Dewar told police it was Carlow who held the cat down and MacArthur who hit it with a spindle.

The cat was placed in a plastic bag and left in a trash receptacle.

Pratt said this was not the first time Dewar had crossed paths with the law.

"There is a strong correlation between [animal cruelty] and very severe problems when they [become] adults," she said after the sentencing. "This makes the state more concerned than it would be normally because Mr. Dewar has a prior fire-related misdemeanor conviction."

Gallant, the cat's owner, was present for Thursday's court proceeding.

"I cannot get the image of Pepper going to them when they called her, expecting to be loved and petted, and then being hit the first time," Gallant told the court Thursday.

"Did she wonder what was happening to her? Did she wonder why I wasn't there to protect her like I had done for 15 years of her life? She ran away from them, fighting for her life, and they dragged her back and they slit her throat and she bit one of them. Couldn't they see that she wanted to live?"

Outside the Washington County Courthouse on Thursday, Gallant was the voice of compassion.

"They need help," she said, referring to the perpetrators. "I don't want to see them thrown away. I have children. I believe if my children got into trouble I would want them to get the help that they need," she said. "I have to believe that the judge knows what these kids needs."

Gallant's husband was visibly upset by Dewar. "I think he should have looked at her and apologized. That should be a big step to getting well. And he couldn't even do that. I don't think he's doing that well," John Gallant said.

Source: Bangor Daily News - April 21. 2006
Update posted on Apr 21, 2006 - 11:04AM

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The trial of three teens who allegedly tortured and killed a neighbor's cat is expected to begin at the end of February.

Charged with aggravated cruelty to animals in the Sept. 23 incident are: Ted MacArthur, 16, Brent C. Carlow, 16, and John B. Dewar II, 14, all of Baileyville.

The three teens were charged after Baileyville police determined they had killed a cat owned by Michelle Gallant and her family. Pepper, the cat, was 15 years old.

"She went with them because she trusted them," Gallant told the Bangor Daily News at the time. "She was a loving part of our family. She deserved more than this."

Assistant District Attorney Joelle Pratt said Monday that the juveniles had been "charged with what would be a felony in the adult world," which was why their names had been made public.

Pratt, who said she did not plan to address the specifics of the case, said that what made the crime aggravated cruelty was the individuals had to "manifest a depraved indifference to animal life or suffering and then have to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly either cause extreme physical pain, kill or physically torture the animal."

If an adult were convicted of the crime it would carry a maximum penalty of five years, but Pratt said a juvenile can only be sentenced to 30 days in jail. "If you want to try and do anything more than 30 days you have to do what is called an indeterminate sentence which means they have to go to the Maine Youth Center and they have to go through whatever program they are assigned when they get there. The program depends upon what you are charged with and history, and you have to complete several requirements or you're not going to get out," she said. Juveniles can be sentenced to the youth center up to the age of 21 years old.

The trial, which is expected to begin on Feb. 28 in 4th District Court in Calais, will be open to the public.

According to PETA, "A complainant told our office that at least two of the defendants bludgeoned Pepper with a metal pole before slitting her throat, repeatedly stabbing her and dropping a rock on her head," the letter said. "According to news sources, the accused then discarded her remains in a dumpster."

Source: Bangor Daily News - Jan 31. 2006
Update posted on Jan 31, 2006 - 10:24PM

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Cat beaten, throat slit, left in dumpsterBaileyville, ME (US)

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Cat beaten, throat slit, left in dumpster
Baileyville, ME (US)