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Man held in cat killing

By SHEELA RAMAN
Published November 21, 2006

A Largo man stabbed a neighborhood cat in the heart Sunday and claimed self-defense.

Police arrested Juan Moya Aviles, 67, after finding him with the cat's blood on his face, pants, and all over the floor and countertops of his home at the Westgate Mobile Home Park.

He has been charged with felony cruelty to animals and is being held on $10,000 bail.

Officers found the adult cat in grass between Aviles' mobile home and the one next door. The cat was black and gray, about a foot long and had a 4-inch gash over its chest and heart, said Officer Cory Hughes.

There were two knives in the sink in Aviles' kitchen: one, likely a steak knife, was probably used in the killing, police said.

Aviles, a former police officer from Puerto Rico, was "obviously intoxicated" when police arrived, Hughes said, recalling that Aviles said, "I killed the cat."

Police said they had been to Aviles' home before to address intoxication and domestic issues, but had not arrested him.

After he was taken into custody, Aviles told police "a large, ferocious cat entered his house and he was afraid it was going to attack him," Hughes said. But when police first arrived, Aviles told them the cat actually did attack him.

"His story kept changing," said Hughes.

The cat's blood extended out the back door of Aviles' trailer.

The cat lived at Aviles' residence when the previous owners lived there. After they moved out, the cat started living with a family a few lots away. The daughter of the cat's new owner found the animal, and the owner then called police to report the incident, said Hughes.

Police would not release the name of the cat's owner.

The owner and his family told police their pet was friendly and would never hurt anyone.

[Last modified November 20, 2006, 20:45:03]