Texas woman accused of smothering a cat to death after the feline got in her flower bed
The cat experienced ‘significant suffering’ as it died, one official said
A 44-year-old Texas woman is in jail after police say she smothered a cat to death after the creature got in her flower bed.
Amy Dawn Hagman of Hunt County, Texas, was arrested Monday and has been charged with assault and cruelty to non-livestock animals: torture, according to public jail records.
Police say Hagman smothered and strangled a cat that got into her flower bed early Monday. Investigators found the cat with twine wrapped around its neck, knotted and secured to one of its back legs.
An autopsy then revealed the cat was likely smothered or asphyxiated with an object after finding grass in its mouth and abrasions around its lips.
The Texas branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told Fox 4 that their animal cruelty investigations unit assisted the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office with arresting Hagman.
SPCA officials brought the cat to the Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center in Dallas, just west of Hunt County.
"The results of the necropsy confirmed what deputies on scene feared—that this animal experienced significant suffering," Courtney Burns, chief investigator for the Texas SPCA, told Fox 4. "These cases are heartbreaking, but the forensic evidence is critical to ensuring that justice is pursued to the fullest extent of the law.”
Hagman’s bond has been set at $12,000. It’s unclear if she has had an initial hearing or retained an attorney as of Wednesday afternoon.
Public records indicate Hagman was previously arrested in Hunt County and charged with simple assault in 2009.
The Independent has contacted the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office for more information.