An Ohio woman charged with killing and eating a cat pleaded guilty Monday to animal cruelty and was sentenced to a year in jail for her gruesome act.
Twenty-seven-year-old Allexis T Ferrell was sentenced by Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank G. Forchione who expressed equal measures of disgust and disappointment at actions that amounted to a fifth-degree felony, the Canton Repository reports.
“To me, you present quite a danger to our community,” he said, adding, “This is repulsive to me. I mean, that anyone would do this to an animal. An animal’s like a child. I don’t know if you understand that or not?”
“Absolutely,” Ferrell responded.
“They bring a lot of love to a lot of people,” Forchione continued. “They don’t have a voice. But their only voice today is me and I’m going to exercise this voice very loudly.”
“I don’t know what could prompt anyone to want to eat a cat,” the judge added.
Ferrell was arrested in August, accused of “stomping” the cat’s head then eating it, according to a criminal complaint. It happened at a housing complex in the 1100 block of East 13th Street, FOX News reports.
Ferrell was indicted Aug. 21 on a charge of cruelty to companion animals. She initially pleaded not guilty, but on Monday changed her plea to guilty.
The court ordered an evaluation of “the defendant’s mental condition at the time of the offense,” as well as of Ferrell’s competency to stand trial, records show.
Ferrell was also sentenced Monday on probation violations in two prior cases, which were triggered by the animal cruelty case.