Man sentenced for swinging cat by scruff, legs in parking lot
By Alexandra Mester / The Blade
Mon, 02 Dec 2019 20:39:23 GMT
A man convicted for swinging a cat by its scruff and rear legs in front of a child was sentenced Monday in Sylvania Municipal Court.
Bradly J. Rublaitus, 37, of the 100 block of Crosspath Road in Springfield Township, pleaded no contest in September to a single misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.
Judge Michael Bonfiglio sentenced him Monday to 180 days at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio with 119 days suspended and credit for one day served. Mr. Rublaitus will spend the remaining 60 days on electronic monitoring.
He also will be on probation for two years, with no animal ownership allowed during that time, and must complete 40 hours of community service as well as anger management courses and a mental-health evaluation.
Witnesses on Aug. 7 saw Mr. Rublaitus swinging the black male cat in the parking lot of the Venetian Woods complex in the 2100 block of North McCord Road. His young daughter was with him at the time. Mr. Rublaitus told responding Lucas County Sheriff’s deputies that the cat had knocked a television off a stand and broke it.
A witness who rescued the cat from the man said Mr. Rublaitus was swinging the animal around “like a sack of potatoes” and yelling before throwing the feline into her work vehicle.
The cat, dubbed Henry, was taken in by the Lucas County Pit Crew. He suffered minor injuries and quickly recovered in a foster home. He was adopted a couple of weeks ago and is doing very well, said Executive Director Jean Keating.
Henry, a cat in the care of the Lucas County Pit Crew, at the West Toledo Animal Hospital in Sylvania, Ohio, on Aug. 8, 2019. Bradly J. Rublaitus has been sentenced on an animal cruelty charge after witnesses reported seeing him abusing the cat outside the Venetian Woods complex in Springfield Township.
Bradly J. Rublaitus.