Man is charged with animal cruelty
By Pat Reavy
Deseret News staff writer
Salt Lake County Animal Ser-
vices officials are calling it one
of the worst cases of animal cru-
elty they've ever seen.
Steven Lee Hovey, 33, was
charged Thursday in 3rd Dis-
trict Court with slamming a 3-
month-old kitten against the
ground, throwing it against a
wall several times, ripping out
its internal organs and then
throwing it away.
"It's the most disgusting thing
I've heard of in my eight years
with Animal Services," spokes-
woman Temma Martin sais.
The incident occured June
17 near 300 East and 500 South,
Hovey went to his ex-
girlfriend's house to make sex-
ual advances, according to
court documents.
When his advances were
rejected, Hovey grabbed the
family kitten and tried to break
its neck, court documents state.
That's when the kitten
scratched Hovey on the arm
and he bacame enraged.
Hovey slammed the cat
against the ground and the wall
before walking outside and
throwing the kitten against the
concrete steps and into the gut-
ter, according to cour docu- |
ments. All of this happened in
front of the womans's daughter,
10, who pleaded with Hovey not
to hurt her kitten, documents
say.
Twelve hours later, a neigh-
bor witnessed Hovey throw the
mutilated kitten off his roof,
court documents state. Hovey
and his current girlfriend alleg-
edly put the kitten's body into a
plastic bag and threw it into a
Dumpster near 900 West and
1000 South. Police examined
the mutilated kitten.
The young girl has been
receiving counseling since the
incident for post-traumatic
stress disorder, according to
court documents.
Hovey was charged with bur-
glary, child abuse, obstructing
justice and aggravated cruelty
to animals. His girlfriend was
charged with obstructing jus-
tice.
Martin said this case illus-
trates the connection between
animal abuse and domestic vio-
lence. Where there is abuse
toward pets, there is usually
family violence in the house.
Abusers will abuse animals
to intimidate the family, she
said.
Contributing: Brady Snyder |
Deseret News 7-12-02