A man from Uniondale, Long Island is now behind bars for felony robbery charges, but this all comes after he also violently tortured his girlfriend's 5-month-old kitten. Shomari Ferguson allegedly beat the cat when his girlfriend was at work. Apparently the girlfriend's landlord called her to say that he heard loud thuds and screeching from the kitten, so the girlfriend asked her roommate to investigate. According to the Nassau County DA's office, the roommate found "the kitten in the closet, smelling strongly of bleach, and its face covered in blood, pus, and saliva. The kitten was unable to open its eyes."
An assistant DA told WCBS 2 that Ferguson "repeatedly threw [the kitten] against the wall and beat her to such an extent - broken hip, broken ribs, a collapsed lung—her body temperature was so low, it didn't register on a thermometer. She was in shock." The DA's office shot video and took photos inside of the animal hospital the cat is being treated at, and say the cat (named Cali) was suffering from internal injuries, bleach burns, a split lip and fractured bones. Cali recently recovered from her injuries and now lives with one of the assistant veterinarians who adopted her.
It's believed that Ferguson, who has a history of physical and verbal intimidation, would likely turn on his girlfriend next. Animal cruelty cases are often part of, or will lead to domestic violence, and District Attorney Kathleen Rice has now opened an Animal Cruelty Task Force.
