Two held in attack on kittens

• By SONIA SMITH
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 11, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Two men were arrested Wednesday after they allegedly stood by laughing as their pit bull ate a live kitten.

Jeremy Johnson, 17, and Travis Johnson, 23, were arrested in a vacant lot in the 4900 block of Bradley Street after 911 dispatchers received an anonymous tip about the pair, a Baton Rouge police arrest affidavit says.

When police and animal control officers arrived at 11:20 a.m., they saw Jeremy Johnson holding his pet pit bull’s leash while the dog consumed a kitten, according to police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely and the affidavit.

Animal control officers had to pull the pit bull off the kitten, McKneely said. The officers located another kitten that had been mauled nearby in the grass.

Jeremy Johnson told officers  “he was letting the pit bull take care of the kittens because he doesn’t like cats and thinks there are too many of them loose in the area,” McKneely said.

McKneely said he did not know the origin of the kittens. Their condition was not availabel at press deadline.

East Baton Rouge Animal Control officials took the pit bull into custody, the affidavit says. Calls left with animal control on the status of the pit bull were not returned late Thursday.

The Johnsons, both of 4917 Bradley St., were booked into Parish Prison on two counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals and one count of criminal trespassing.

Bond was set for both men at $7,500, booking documents show. Their relationship to each other was unclear Thursday.

State law says, in part, that aggravated cruelty to animals includes the torturing, maiming or mutilating any living animal “intentionally or with criminal negligence.”

If convicted, the Johnsons could pay a fine ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 or spend from one to 10 years in prison, or both.

Pam Leavey, a volunteer with Capital Area Animal Welfare Society, said that kittens and puppies are often used to train pit bulls for dogfighting.

“It’s a horrendous death for the animals and it is so inhumane,” Leavey said of the practice.