Poplar Bluff man arrested for handcuffing cat around neck

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff man faces a felony animal-abuse charge after allegedly stealing his neighbor’s cat and handcuffing it to a chair because it “wouldn’t stay around.”

Butler County sheriff’s deputies arrested Tad A. Horton, 30, on the morning of Jan. 28 at his temporary residence in the 30 block of Madison Lane on suspicion of class D felony animal abuse.

Animal abuse in Missouri is a class A misdemeanor unless mutilation or torture is consciously inflicted while the animal is alive, in which case it is a class D felony.

According to arrest reports, deputies were sent to the residence for a report Horton was making threatening statements toward another person.

As they entered the residence, deputies noticed a cat lying on the floor motionless with handcuffs closed around its neck and a rope running through the handcuffs, tying the cat to a chair.

Deputies stated the handcuffs were so tight, they were unable to get their fingers in between the steel and the cat’s neck. The cat did not respond when touched.

Deputies asked Horton why the cat was restrained. According to reports, he told them he had it handcuffed because it “kept trying to run away from him.”

Witnesses told deputies the cat was stolen from a neighbor. After a few minutes, the cat gathered enough strength to move and ran to the neighbor’s residence.

Horton was taken into custody and booked at the Butler County Jail.

The investigation has been forwarded to the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where a final determination on charges will be made.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.