Lewistown man charged in animal cruelty toward pet cat
Family contacted police out of concern for mental health
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From Staff Reports
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LEWISTOWN -- A 32-year-old man faces animal cruelty charges after police said he beheaded his cat.
Timothy A. Laws, of Lewistown, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Jack Miller Monday on charges of aggravated assault to animals--torture, a felony offense, and summary cruelty to animals.
According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, officers from Lewistown Police Department were called to a residence on Chestnut Street on Nov. 4 because family and neighbors of Laws were concerned about his mental health, stating that he "killed his pet cat because he did not want it to die while it was home alone after he 'goes away.'"
Police said Laws has a history of mental health issues and that the family believed he was not taking his medication. Police were again called to the scene due to a physical disturbance after Laws' family arrived at the residence and Laws
was arrested.
Laws' neighbors told police that at one point, Laws asked them to go to his apartment and they noticed his cats were not in the apartment.
According to the affidavit, Laws said one cat was sleeping in the cage and the second cat was covered by a blanket in the cage.
When going to check on the animals, the neighbor said they found one cat in the cage with multiple blankets and a Bible, but that it did not have enough room to move, eat or drink. The report states that the neighbor removed the Bible, but that Laws wanted the cat to stay in the cage.
The affidavit states that Laws then told the neighbor that the second cat was not sleeping, but was actually deceased and that he killed it by cutting off his head.
According to court documents, Laws then opened a backpack and two of the neighbors saw the cat's head in the bag.
The report states that Laws told neighbors he killed the cat because "he loves him so much and did not want anyone else to kill him." He also said that the cat "was not happy and he did not want him to suffer, so he wanted to be the one to kill the animal."
Law was held in Mifflin County Correctional Facility, unable to post $25,000 bail. He is awaiting a preliminary hearing, set for 9 a.m. Dec. 27.