A Batavia man has been charged with animal torture and felony aggravated cruelty to animals after allegedly running over a cat several times with a vehicle and then putting the dead animal in a dumpster outside a business in the city, police said.
Brennan K. Loeffler, 36, of the 500 block of South Harrison Street, turned himself in to Batavia police on Saturday, police said in a press release. He was also charged with two counts of violation of animal owner’s duties/first offense, which is a misdemeanor, officials said.
Advertisement
At approximately 11:22 a.m. Aug. 4, Batavia police were dispatched to a business in the 900 block of West Wilson Street after a representative of the business discovered a dead cat in a box in a dumpster outside, police said.
The representative of the business reviewed video surveillance footage from the business which showed an individual at about 11:45 a.m. Aug. 3 running over the cat several times with a vehicle, then placing the cat into the dumpster, according to the release.
Advertisement
Police said an investigation was conducted, which included checking the cat for a microchip, which provided the name of the cat’s owner. A family member of the dead cat’s owner was subsequently identified as the individual who allegedly ran over the cat and put it into the dumpster, according to the release.
