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NANTICOKE — Humane officers with the SPCA of Luzerne County charged a Nanticoke man with killing a cat by using an air pellet rifle earlier this year.
Herman Augusta Curry, 64, of College Street, was arraigned by District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke on two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals by torture and causing death, a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and a summary count of cruelty to animals. Curry was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Curry told humane officers he believed he shot a rapid raccoon, according to court records.
Nanticoke police and firefighters recovered a deceased cat from a tree in the area of 214 College St. A necropsy, similar to an autopsy, showed the cat was shot seven times and a pellet was recovered from its spine during the procedure.
Curry told humane officers his neighbor has a ton of garbage outside that attracts a variety of animals such as skunks, raccoons, rats, opossums and cats, court records say.
Curry admitted to using a pellet gun to shoot, court records say, what he believed was a rabid raccoon.
Humane officers allege a Crosman Shockwave Airgun seized by a search warrant from Curry’s residence was the weapon used to kill the cat.