Police arrest man in animal cruelty case

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A 21-year-old man who Santa Barbara police say repeatedly bashed a cat’s head against a wall and threw the cat into a shower with running water was arrested for alleged cruelty to an animal, false imprisonment and battery, a spokesman for the police department said yesterday.
The incident began at 8 a.m. on Saturday when the cat’s owner, a 19-year-old male and his guest, heard banging sounds coming from the bathroom, said Lt. Paul McCaffrey.

He said the guest went into the bathroom and saw Nicholas David Thompson, the roommate of the 19-year-old man, abusing the cat.
“The friend tried to retrieve the cat and inspect it for injuries,” McCaffrey said. “Thompson screamed at him to leave the cat in there because it had urinated on his bed.”
He said the cat’s owner and the friend eventually were able to retrieve the cat, but retreated to their bedroom while Thompson was yelling and physically intimidating them.
McCaffrey said Thompson told the two that they could not leave the residence until they cleaned up the cat urine.
“Thompson blocked their path and, when they tried to leave, forcefully pushed his roommate back into the room,” McCaffrey said.
After several more minutes, McCaffrey said the cat’s owner and the friend managed to leave the residence and took the cat to the Santa Barbara Pet Hospital, where it arrived “near death.”
He said the cat suffered from a depressed heart rate, ruptured blood vessels in the eyes and brain swelling.
“Officers went to the residence and found Thompson smoking marijuana in his bedroom,” McCaffrey said. Thompson’s bail was set at $20,000, which he reportedly posted and was released from county jail.
McCaffrey said condition of the cat, which is named Gigi, has improved.