Cat Killing Leads To Felony Animal Cruelty Charges Against Montco Man

WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Montgomery County man is in jail after being arrested and charged in connection with the death of his girlfriend's cat, according to media reports and court records.

Michael Baker, 40, of Ambler, Pa., was arrested by Whitpain Township Police on Monday and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals-torture, which in Pennsylvania is a third-degree felony.

Court records show he was sent to county prison on a $77 bail. That dollar figure is typically used in magisterial district courts when there is a probation or parole detainer that would warrant a defendant being locked up pending resolution of the charges.

The website NorthPennNow reported that the arrest came after Baker's girlfriend told police that during a domestic disturbance at her Whitpain home, Baker allegedly picked up the cat and threw it down a flight of stairs, and then subsequently threw the animal against an exterior wall to the home.

Responding officers reportedly witnessed fresh blood on the home's porch and found the dead cat inside of a cat litter container on the porch, according to the story.

Court records show that Baker was arraigned on Monday evening before Magisterial District Court Judge Karen Eisner Zucker.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 6 before Zucker.

Pennsylvania updated its animal cruelty laws back in 2017.

Previously, some animal cruelty laws only provided for summary violations, which are less than misdemeanors, but some of those laws have since been increased to felonies, such as intentionally torturing and/or killing an animal.