A Florida man, David Charette Jr., 48, faces charges of aggravated animal cruelty. Authorities allege he killed the family’s kittens as a form of punishment in front of his teenage daughter.
Bodycam footage from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office shows deputies responding to a call at a Pine Manor home. The report indicated that a man attempted to drown and harm a two-month-old kitten named Luna.
Witnesses claimed that Charette used this abuse as punishment when his daughter misbehaved. In the video, Charette defends his actions by stating, “The cat is in perfectly healthy condition.” He insisted that he was only giving Luna a bath because the kitten soiled itself.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno described the allegations involving Charette’s daughter as particularly disturbing. Marceno stated, “A daughter says that when she acts up or when she’s in trouble, her father kills her kittens. This is sickening to me.”
A daughter says that when she acts up or when she’s in trouble, her father kills her kittens. This is sickening to me.
Investigators discovered Charette allegedly killed two other kittens over the past year. In a June incident, Charette reportedly smothered a one-month-old kitten using a bleach-soaked rag. Another case involved the alleged death of a three-month-old kitten with a blow-dryer.
Both kittens were buried in the backyard, but investigators recovered only one during a property search. Luna is currently recovering at a local animal hospital.