A Cayuga County man who severed a 13-week-old kitten's spinal cord can never own a pet again and is going to jail on weekends for a few months.
Jeremy J. McNair, 23, of Port Byron, was sentenced by Judge Thomas Leone in Cayuga County Court on Thursday to five years of felony probation, starting with four months in the Cayuga County Jail on weekends, for aggravated cruelty to animals (a Class E felony), District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci told 水果派AV.
McNair also had to agree to not own any animals and will pay $825.49 in restitution to the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York after it tended to the kitten, which was thrown by the defendant.
He was additionally sentenced to three years of probation for torturing or injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance (a misdemeanor), with both sentences running concurrently. McNair was arraigned in October and pleaded guilty in May, Grome Antonacci said. His plea satisfied another count of torturing or injuring animals.
New York State Police determined McNair threw the kitten, severing its spinal cord and causing other severe injuries, while investigating an animal cruelty complaint on Fuller Road in the town of Aurelius in July 2024. Troopers and the SPCA took it to a veterinary clinic, where it was determined the animal would likely never regain voluntary function. The kitten was then euthanized.聽
Chester鈥檚 Barn, a nonprofit animal rescue and sanctuary in Scipio Center, takes in abandoned, abused and unwanted animals. Kendra Janssen, founder and president, along with a stable of volunteers, offers protection to animals from neglect, cruelty and slaughter. Through their rescue efforts and rehabilitation, many of the animals find new forever homes. Others live out their lives on the farm. Chester's Barn focuses on sharing the importance of animal care and the positive impact animals can have on human mental health.
