A 48-year-old Florida man has been arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after allegedly killing two kittens in front of his teenage daughter as a form of punishment.
According to authorities, David Charette Jr. was taken into custody this week following a report that he was attempting to drown and strike a two-month-old kitten named Luna. Bodycam footage released by the Lee County Sheriff's Office shows deputies responding to a home in Pine Manor after receiving the report.
Witnesses told deputies that Charette allegedly abused and killed the family's kittens as punishment when his daughter "acted up." In an interview with deputies, Charette defended his treatment of Luna, stating that he had to give her a bath because she soils herself in the cage.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno described the allegations as particularly disturbing due to their impact on Charette's teenage daughter. Marceno stated that it is "sickening" for a child to be subjected to such treatment by a parent, and said that investigators later learned of two previous incidents in which Charette allegedly killed kittens.
Luna was taken to a local animal hospital for treatment and is recovering.
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