Man sentenced for stabbing cat and using zip-tie to strangle it
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ST. ANTHONY — A man who stabbed and strangled a cat has been sentenced after reaching a plea agreement with Fremont County prosecutors.
Caden Glenn Armstrong, 21, received a 180-day jail sentence and two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and possession of drug paraphernalia. As part of the plea agreement, felony and misdemeanor charges of possession of controlled substances were dismissed.
In December, Fremont County Sheriff’s deputies served Armstrong a felony burglary warrant from Madison County. According to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, while serving the warrant, a deputy noticed a dead orange-colored cat surrounded in frozen blood outside the door of Armstrong’s camper trailer.
The deputy also noticed a zip-tie around the cat’s neck and found a knife on the floor. As investigators and a probation officer search his camper, other deputies spoke with Armstrong about the dead cat.
“Caden said the cat was injured. He took the cat into the R.V. and attempted to strangle it by hand, but the cat scratched him,” a deputy wrote in a report. “He said he then put a zip tie around the cat’s neck and pulled it tight. He said he also stabbed it in the neck then discarded the cat outside.”
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The cat had no signs of obvious broken bones or other injuries to indicate it had been hit by a car, deputies stated. Armstrong allegedly said he had been using methamphetamine before, during and after killing the cat. He told deputies that in addition to meth, he would test positive for marijuana use.
Armstrong said the cat belonged to his neighbors that he did not like. He said that is why he did not take the cat back to them after reportedly seeing it “flopping around” on the road. The neighbor confirmed the dead cat named Tigger was his.
While searching the property, investigators said they found .4 grams of meth and one gram of marijuana. Various pipes, bongs and other drug paraphilia were also found.
In the felony burglary case in Madison County, Armstrong received a suspended three- to six-year prison sentence and was placed on four years of probation. He will also have to serve some local jail time alongside his animal cruelty case, according to court records.
Between both cases, judges in both Madison and Fremont County ordered Armstrong to pay over $4,100 in fees and fines.