NYC nutjob hit with animal cruelty charges for ‘stretching’ ex-girlfriend’s cat to death: DA

A 23-year-old Queens man has been indicted on animal cruelty charges for allegedly pulling his ex-girlfriend’s cat apart by its head and hind leg in one of the “most violent” pet deaths in the borough, prosecutors said.

Jalen Gonzalez was arraigned Tuesday on charges including aggravated cruelty to animals after prosecutors say he became drunk, refused to leave his girlfriend’s apartment, grabbed her leg, and then turned on her cat, named Kitty, while the woman fled to get help in January.

When she returned with her uncle, Gonzalez was allegedly holding the cat by its neck and hind leg, stretching the animal apart.

A forensic necropsy revealed catastrophic injuries: a crushed skull, flattened on one side with dozens of fractures, a fractured jaw with missing teeth and eyes protruding from their sockets – with the right eye ruptured, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Kitty’s head was also internally severed from the spine and the poor cat suffered a torn diaphragm, fractures to 24 ribs, a torn artery leading to its heart, a lacerated spleen and kidneys a shattered pelvis and fractured hind legs, according to the necropsy.

Gonzalez’s shirt was saturated with blood and investigators found blood spatter and vomit on the ceiling, walls, and floor of the room, the DA’s office said.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz called it one of the most violent animal deaths her office has ever seen and used the case to push for stronger animal cruelty laws in New York.

“This animal endured one of the most gratuitously violent deaths that we have ever seen in the borough of Queens,” Katz said in a press release.

“The cat was stretched to the point where her head was severed from her spine. No animal or person should ever suffer this way. This is another horrifying example of why New York needs stronger animal cruelty laws.”

Under current state law, the charges are not even bail-eligible, and Gonzalez faces a maximum of just two years in jail.

The case is being prosecuted jointly by the DA’s Domestic Violence Bureau and Animal Cruelty Prosecutions Unit. Gonzalez is due back in court on July 21.