A kitten in Buford, GA is recovering after being hit with a tree limb by a man who claims he was defending his pit bull because the kitten looked like it was about to attack the chained dog.
Michael Paul Labron Glover was arrested and charged with one count of animal cruelty on Tuesday for the attack on the kitten, which was found lying nearly motionless in the yard, after he called 911 to report that a neighbor’s cat had antagonized his pit bull, who was chained in his mother’s back yard. According to the police report, Glover also said the cat had been causing trouble in his mother’s garden, he was “sick of it,” and it had “no business being on the property.”
Glover told police, “I saw that little cat outside of my fence acting like he was going to antagonize my pit bull, so I grabbed a little stick and hit him with it.” The little stick was found to be a 3 1/2 foot long branch measuring 1 1/2 inch wide. The responding officer wrote in his report, “The tree limb was large enough that I felt that it caused an officer safety issue by him holding it as he could cause serious to life [threatening] damage to a grown adult, much less a small kitten.”
Glover continued, saying he was “sick and tired of those cats bothering my pit bull” and he feared their teasing would prompt the dog to break its chain, leaving him liable if the dog were to bite someone when loose.
The neighbor led the officer to the kitten and told him it had barely moved since being hit and “appeared to be discombobulated.” Animal Control was brought in to assist and take the kitten to get medical care.
After speaking with both Glover and the neighbor the officer arrested Glover, who had to be shown a taser before he cooperated with being cuffed. The officer added in his report, “Mr. Glover never expressed any remorse for injuring the kitten, but asked me not [to] arrest him as he believed this would violate his probation.”
Glover was taken to the Gwinnett County Jail, where he remains without bond. He has been arrested numerous times in the past and has done time in prison twice.
Gwinnett County Animal Control officers brought the kitten to the Sugar Hill Animal Hospital for x-rays and care. Dr. Angela Earick told Channel2 news the kitten was suffering from head trauma, was lethargic and her left eye was swollen shut when she arrived. Dr. Earick said x-rays didn’t show any obvious injuries to her head or body. “I would say she’s very lucky,” Dr. Earick told the reporter for Channel 2. “She’s been in our ICU overnight with fluids and had some pain medication and she’s responding great.” The kitten is expected to make a full recovery.
The veterinarian also commented on the incident, saying “You can’t understand how someone could do anything mean to something as cute and defenseless as this.”
The kitten is now at the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter, and she is expected to be ready for adoption next week.
Could this dog be trained to get along and possibly love cats? I hope he gets more than a few years in prison. It would be great to show this low life (by video) his dog playing with this
kitty in a new home for them both.
First of all, I don,t think this dog should be on a chain. Second, I have never seen a kitten do bodily harm to a pit bull. Third, this guy is just a bully and mean. Put him in jail where he belongs.
I hate to say this, but the injury to this kitten would not have happened if the owner (if it did have an owner and was not a stray) had been responsible and kept the kitten on his or her property. Just because no law exists for “cat control” does not mean you should just let it wander. In this day and age, you just never know what sick and twisted things some people will do. It is always the animal that pays in pain or with its life. BUT THAT IS NEVER AN EXCUSE TO ABUSE AN ANIMAL. I hope they prosecute this person to the fullest extent of the law and he should not be allowed to own any animals at all. Ever.
Laurie, that is ridiculous