WEST DEPTFORD N.J. (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey superior court judge sentenced a man who slammed a cat into the ground and threw it into the trash in September to a year-and-a-half in prison.
Christopher Pozzi, 52, served a 19-year prison sentence for killing a four-month-old by punching and slamming the baby into a couch during a dispute with the infant’s mother in 1996.
Doorbell video from an apartment complex in West Deptford showed Pozzi repeatedly dashing the cat against the concrete ground before tossing the battered animal in a trash receptacle.
He was arrested shortly after the incident in September and pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in December.
The cat miraculously survived the attack with multiple jaw fractures, and veterinarians at the Pitman Animal Hospital nursed her back to health. The staff named the cat Eileen, and a technician adopted her when she was released after a month-and-a-half.
In addition to the 18-month sentence, Pozzi was ordered to pay $9,121 to the hospital.