HomeNewsEagan Man pleads guilty, gets jail time in cat cruelty case
Man pleads guilty, gets jail time in cat cruelty case
Thursday, 19 November 2009
One cat had to be euthanized after beating; three others vanished while he lived with girlfriend in Eagan
by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers
A man accused of beating his girlfriend’s cat so badly it had to be euthanized has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Ryan Jason Wolcott, 24, of Maple Grove was also sentenced to up to two years of probation.
Wolcott was charged in Dakota County with felony animal cruelty in April. He was also charged with animal abandonment in connection with the disappearance of three other cats belonging to his live-in girlfriend in Eagan.
Wolcott pleaded guilty to both charges.
“Any cruelty of this nature to a helpless animal is unconscionable and deserves a jail sentence,” said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.
According to the criminal complaint, police were tipped off by an Eagan veterinary clinic to a case of possible animal cruelty in November 2008.
Wolcott’s girlfriend brought her cat, Mayzie, to the clinic after she came home and found the cat comatose. Mayzie had been lethargic for days, and the owner said she noticed bruises on Mayzie’s ear and lower lip that same day.
While being treated, Mayzie stopped breathing and had to be put on a respirator. Her owner was very upset and chose to have Mayzie euthanized. She said she suspected her boyfriend was responsible for Mayzie’s condition.
Wolcott told police he injured Mayzie while giving her a bath. She scratched him, he said, which made him angry, so he squeezed her very hard, hard enough to cause internal injuries.
He also told police he forcefully hit Mayzie’s body against the side and bottom of the tub, and he may have hit her head against the water faucet.
According to the veterinarian, a necropsy performed on Mayzie revealed injuries severe enough to be consistent with getting hit by a car. Mayzie suffered blunt force trauma primarily to her head and abdomen and had bleeding around her kidney area.
The doctor said he didn’t believe it was possible that the injuries were caused by someone squeezing the cat too tightly.
Wolcott and his girlfriend began living together in January or February 2008. During that time, two of the girlfriend’s cats disappeared. She then bought a third cat, a small kitten.
When that kitten disappeared, Wolcott told his girlfriend he had been clipping the kitten’s claws, but it was uncooperative, so he sprayed mace on his fingers and applied it to the kitten’s eyes.
He told her he then had it euthanized because he couldn’t afford to treat it.
He later told police he gave the kitten away to someone in the lobby of the veterinary clinic. He also told them he let the first two cats loose in a field because he didn’t want to hurt them.
As part of the terms of his probation, Wolcott is prohibited from possessing or caring for any pet or companion animal, consuming alcohol, and contacting his ex-girlfriend, Backstrom said.
Erin Johnson is at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
News 
Subscribe to this comment's feed