HOUSTON – A 24-year-old Southeast Texas man who told authorities he killed a stray cat by throwing it into the air and shooting it with a shotgun because it was sick is charged with animal cruelty.
The Harris County sheriff’s office said Sunday that Joseph D. Morgan has been charged with cruelty to animal/torture with firearm.
A deputy on Saturday found the cat’s body near the San Jacinto River after getting a complaint about a gunshot. The deputy was told Morgan had shot the cat.
Morgan, a Harris County resident, said the stray was sick and needed to be euthanized, so he shot it with a shotgun loaded with bird shot.
He remained in Harris County jail Sunday on $10,000 bond. The jail did not have an attorney listed for him.