September 20, 2008
Cat Killer: 7 Lb. Cat "Lunged, Throwing Me On My Butt"
Joseph Petcka, on trial for animal cruelty after fatally beating his girlfriend's cat, claimed self-defense, saying the 7 pound cat attacked him during his testimony. He told the jury, "He was coming at my legs." Keep in mind that Petcka is 205 pounds and 6'2".
Petcka and Lisa Altobelli had gotten into a fight last year, with Petcka yelling, "You love that cat more than me." Altobelli fled the apartment after Petcka allegedly grabbed her neck. When she returned, she found Norman under a bedside table, dead with "a broken leg, three broken ribs, broken teeth, and a lacerated tongue," not to mention blood in his lungs. On the stand, Petcka said Norman the orange domestic bit his hand and then the cat lunged at him, "His arms were outstretched. And his teeth were bared, and he came at me in one fell swoop."
So Petcka swiped at Norman with his hand, and then kicked the cat with his metal-toed motorcycle boots (also keep in mind that Norman was declawed). From the Post:
"I swung my hand up when he bit into my thumb, and then I threw back - to get my face and neck out of the way - because I didn't know if he was going to jump."Petcka reportedly wasn't sure how many times Norman was kicked, and the Daily News reports the defendant said the cat was "walking and seemed uninjured" afterwards. The ASPCA's animal cruelty inspector Dr. Robert Reisman said that the force with which Norman had been kicked was like a soccer player kicking a ball towards a goal. He added, "The easiest way to cause those injuries would be to control the cat and hit his face on a hard surface...This was not pushing it away.""And then I started to kick my legs like a bicycle."
Petcka did admit it was "A bad, violent reaction." The jury must find that there was no justifiable reason for the violence to convict him of felony animal cruelty, which is punishable for up to two years in prison. Closing arguments are expected on Monday.
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If only someone would kick this guy with a metal-toed motorcycle boot. Preferably in the face.
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His defense is preposterous! The cat was declawed for the love of god! If he can do that to a cat, he can potentially do that to a person, get him off the streets, pls.
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I think I'd rather see this guy fined heavily than have him spend 2 years in jail. I mean, it's messed up what he did, but it's still a cat we're talking about. There are people who attack and injure-sometimes kill- other people who don't spend 2 years in jail. Considering the cost of incarceration to taxpayers, I'd rather see this guy do 90 days community service, attend anger management classes on his own dime, and pay a big fine.
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what a pussy
cat.
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# 3, he beat and tortured a small domestic animal to death. He deserves to go to prison for that. Anger management classes usually don't do much to help sadists. The guy's already shown violent tendencies toward humans too, and I'd rather have him behind bars than out on the streets where he could harm others.
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According to what I've read about serial killers, many of them had a history of torturing and maiming domestic animals. I guess it becomes easier to do it to humans when you start up the ladder as an animal abuser.
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The fact that "there are people who attack and injure-sometimes kill- other people who don't spend 2 years in jail" doesn't mean they shouldn't go to jail.
Petcka in prison + buttrape = my tax dollars well spent.
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there are all sorts of crimes that don't involve directly harm people that people go to jail for...selling drugs comes to mind...if society can support sending someone away to jail for 15 years for selling something they shouldnt have any issue sending someone to jail for brutally killing an animal. Cruelty to animals is far more despicable.
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#3 nailed it. Human on human crimes often don't get jail time.
It's a cat. Go to the shelter and pick out one of dozens that will be euthanized in the near future.
He didn't systematically torture it, fledgling serial killer style. He blew up and kicked it.
I'm a pet owner myself, btw.
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I bet there would be more outrage if it was a dog.
there I said it.
what kind of animal does this type of abuse to a cat? lacerated tongue, broken teeth, punctured lung.
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This guy is so full of shit, it's not funny. I'm having flashbacks of the OJ Simpson trial. The first OJ Simpson trial. Damn stupid jury decided to let that guy off and now he's back on trial for armed robbery and kidnapping. It'll be just that kind of miscarriage of justice if Petcka gets off. The prosecutor should bring in other witnesses like Altobelli's friends, family, vet and anybody else who ever had contact with Norman, all to prove about how Norman has no history of violence. No cat continues to attack a large creature. They're not stupid. I doubt anyone can come up with a confirmed report of a sustained attack on a human by a cat.
[9] There are varying degrees of pet ownership and it's rather obvious you're on the low end of the scale. You just have a pet, you don't truly care about it. This isn't anything resembling euthanasia. The very definition of euthanasia is ending life without inflicting pain. I can't believe you buy his BS about kicking it away. He probably started kicking Norman only after he had the little thing cornered.
Kiss your aspirations goodbye, Petcka. Nobody's going to want to put a cat killer in their commercial, TV show, movie, etc. You were never more than a second-rate baseball player, third-rate actor and fourth-rate human being.
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Just out of curiosity, I looked him up on IMDb. Seven whole roles in his entire nine-year career. And unlike the impermanent nature of most websites and blogs, his crowning achievement with Norman is being immortalized there. The forum for him doesn't have a single complimentary post. Brilliant, Petcka. Blame the victim, all seven pounds of him.
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fuck this guy
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There are some real animal lovers among the inmates this guy is going to be doing time with. Too bad his lawyer doesn't get to share the cell with him for putting up such a ridiculous defense. Hmmm... could you construe it as contempt for insulting the intelligence of the judge by putting up such an obviously untruthful defense?
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Andrea peyser from the post wrote that the cat deserve every blow. Please boycott the post. don't ever buy it again until they fire her.
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Peyser just wants to get into his pants. Someone needs to get her a vibrator like the women on The View got. Have you seen her picture in the Post? Ewww.
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Big body & small brain, and it's not the cat I'm talking about!
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He needs to go to jail for killing that cat!