Gregory Eric Arner
CHESTER — A city man was arrested late Thursday night on a charge of felony animal cruelty.
Police charged Gregory Eric Arner, 59, of 912 Neptune, in conjunction with the death of a neighborhood cat after investigating a citizen complaint that he had killed the animal.
According to Police Chief Chuck Stanley, Arner then was booked around 3 a.m. Friday at Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville, where he was arraigned Friday morning via video technology in Hancock County Magistrate Court on a single count of torture or killing an animal.
According to the police report, a female witness posted to Facebook that she, her husband and 10-year-old stepdaughter had been passing through the 900 block of Neptune when they had noticed a distressed cat on Arner’s yard.
After the family pulled over to assist the struggling cat, the woman said the owner of the house, whom she later identified as Arner, allegedly admitted to killing the cat because he was sick of “smelling cat pee.”
He had allegedly told the family, who had observed this cat dying, that the cat had a “lead headache.”
As a result of the female witness’ tip, Chester police sent over an officer, whom an apparently intoxicated Arner led over to the deceased animal before turning it over to him.
The animal was taken into the custody of a Hancock County humane agent who will transport the deceased to a local veterinarian for possible necropsy. The animal did appear to have a visible injury, Stanley added.
It is still unknown if the cat had been someone’s pet or a neighborhood stray.
During his initial court appearance before Magistrate Stephen Svokas, A Swan Bail Bonding LLC posted a $15,000 property/surety bond on Arner’s behalf to facilitate his release. A follow-up court date had not been noted on the online case docket as of Friday evening.
Stanley said that his department had found the behavior uncharacteristic from Arner, who they had dealt with as a fill-in crossing guard for Allison Elementary School.
If convicted, Arner faces up to five years in the penitentiary and a $5,000 fine.