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2 Men Accused Of Torturing Cat Appear In Court

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Oct 29, 2009 6:28 pm US/Eastern

2 Men Accused Of Torturing Cat Appear In Court

Reporting
Derek Valcourt
EDGEMERE, Md. (WJZ) ― Three men are accused in a horrific case of animal abuse. Police say the men tortured a cat and even stuffed it in a microwave.

Two of the defendants appeared in court Thursday afternoon.

Derek Valcourt explains how they tortured the young kitten.

You wouldn't want to have 19-year-old Kevin Abel as your housesitter. Andrea Hooper did, and she and her family say their five-week-old kitten paid the ultimate price for it.

"You could just lay with her, and she would sit with you for hours," said Hooper.

The family got new kittens to replace the one that police say was tortured and killed.

When Abel invited his friend, 18-year-old Scott McDowell, over to the Hoopers' house as he was housesitting, police say McDowell brought another man, Richard Rioux.

Police say the three were intoxicated when Rioux began torturing the kitten.

"At one time or another, he put the cat in a freezer then a dryer, ran the dryer, a microwave, twirled the cat around on the ground by the tail, hit the cat," said Bill Toohey, Baltimore County Police spokesperson.

Prosecutors say Rioux, 25, was the one who carried out most of the torture. They say they hope to be able to offer a plea deal to the other two defendants to get them to testify against Rioux.

Abel, who is from White Marsh, and McDowell from Sparrows Point, both face animal cruelty charges along with Rioux. Their trials have been postponed, leaving the Hooper family waiting for justice.

"It's disgusting. I can't believe it. I don't understand what somebody thinks of to do something like that to an innocent thing," said TJ Hooper.

A new trial date has been set for all three defendants for Feb. 17.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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