PA: Horrible Case Of Animal Cruelty Investigated
$1,000 Reward Offered In Case

Dec 16, 2003 10:33 am US/Eastern
LEVITTOWN, Pa. (AP) Authorities are trying to find out who set fire to a young cat Saturday, tossed it against a door at a Bristol Township apartment complex and left it to die.

A $1,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for harming the animal, which was euthanized after residents found it burning but still alive.

Residents Kevin Burns and Shawna Meske said they were watching television at about 11 p.m. at the Brittany Springs Apartments when they heard a bang.

"We went outside to see what it was. There was a cat on fire and it was screaming," Burns said. They doused the flames with a fire extinguisher, wrapped the cat in a blanket and took it to Middletown's Animal Emergency & Critical Care Service.

Anne Irwin, executive director of the Bucks County Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said 90 percent of the animal's body was severely burned and it had to be euthanized. She called the crime "horrible."

Bristol Township police Lt. John Godzieba said police checked the area but found nothing to lead them to a suspect. The case remains under investigation, he said.


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