Abusing a cat or dog is a felony offense − even if the animal is a stray, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision Wednesday.
The case stems from an animal cruelty investigation into Alonzo Kyles. Kyles, who is afraid of cats, poured bleach in the basement stairwell of his Cleveland apartment building to make an 8-month-old kitten leave. When Cleveland police arrived, they found the cat had red and swollen paws from being exposed to bleach.
Kyles was convicted of a fifth-degree felony for abusing a companion animal and sentenced to nine months in prison. His attorneys appealed, saying that Kyles should face a misdemeanor instead because the cat wasn’t a pet.
Ohio law increases the penalties for cruelty to companion animals, defined as “any animal that is kept inside a residential dwelling and any dog or cat regardless of where it is kept.” The Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled that the kitten didn’t qualify because the cat wasn’t “kept” or cared for.
The Ohio Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that Ohio’s law prohibiting serious physical harm to companion animals extends to all dogs and cats.
Still, Republican Justice Pat Fischer wrote that Ohio lawmakers could have crafted a clearer law. “The statute in this case is no model of clarity,” he wrote in the court’s opinion.
Read the decision:
Jessie Balmert is a reporter covering state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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