[zykron]

http://www.bristolpress.com/articles...6535832295.txt


NEW BRITAIN — The attorney for a city man accused of throwing cats from a stairwell, killing three of them, said Friday his client was fending off dozens of feral cats at the time.

The arraignment of 63-year-old Stanislaw Ternacki in New Britain Superior Court was protested by a handful of animal rights activists carrying signs that read “He’s a cat killer” and “Stop the cycle of abuse.”

Ternacki, of 237 Washington St., allegedly threw seven cats off an outside staircase and then beat the animals with a stick as they lay on the ground in late November.

Witnesses called police who found one cat dead in a garbage can and six others seriously injured. Two of the cats later died. He was charged with seven counts of cruelty to animals and breach of peace.

Outside the courtroom, Ternacki’s attorney, Paul Catalano, described his client as “a nice old man who has never been in trouble with the law.”

“The prior tenant left behind 30 to 40 cats and the landlord asked him to help get the cats out,” Catalano said.

“Some of the cats attacked him. Whether or not he overreacted remains to be seen. To me, the anger should be directed at the tenant,” Catalano added.

Activist Donna Ploss, who confronted Ternacki as he entered the courthouse Friday afternoon, called the attorney’s claims ridiculous and said feral cats generally run from people not attack them.

Ploss and a handful of others arrived at the courthouse around 8:45 a.m. to hold signs with slogans decrying animal abuse. One poster said “cat killer” in Polish, Ternacki’s native language.

Ploss said the group was seeking to have a prosecutor change the charges against Ternacki from misdemeanors to felonies, punishable by up to five years in prison.

“We’re here basically because the law needs to be changed,” said Ploss, who has protested at animal cruelty cases throughout the state. “I’ve been saying this over and over, but prosecutors and judges don’t seem to listen. It can be tried as a felony.”

Police Sgt. Bryant Pearson informed Ploss and the others that the dozen or more officers outside the courthouse would not interfere with their demonstration but wanted to make sure no physical contact occurred between them and the defendant.

The court proceedings were postponed until 2 p.m. when a Polish interpreter for Ternacki would be available.

A woman sitting next to Ternacki outside the courtroom said the evidence would show that he didn’t commit the crime.

“The man is not guilty,” said the woman, who would only give her name as Hanna.

[FroZenyo]

Is it bad I find this funny?

[xstunt1ngx]

Good ol' man, I hate cats.

[shoottokill]

dude, if a kitty attacked me on a stairwell..id toss the fucker. i wouldn't follow up with a stick to the head or a stomp or crazy shit like that

[Rfneimad]

Pussy just aint gonna go jump on an old man like that.

[Juniorbabe]

good thing he got charged! i highly doubt the cats were attacking him. he was probably just scared of cats. sick freak....

[slapchoppa]

replace the word cat with child ....

[n2ecosystems]

Replace cat with bald eagle and that old man would get the death penalty, for real, killing a bald eagle is worse than killing a human in some states. Same for an alligator in Florida, protected animals are no joke. Anyway, what makes this a cruelty crime is when he decided to take the next step and beat the cats with sticks, stomping them, then disposing of them in a garbage can. Could have called animal services.

[güttsfükk]

maybe he kitties were like this

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5M9U9ll-vVk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[kellyhound]

“The prior tenant left behind 30 to 40 cats and the landlord asked him to help get the cats out,” Catalano said.

call animal police or something.