Oct 6, 2016 2 min read

North Strabane Township police charged two residents with animal cruelty after they allegedly killed a cat by hitting it in the head with a cast iron handle in front of their home last month.

Janine F. Hughes, 63, and Charles D. Harvath, 53, both of 109 Chambers Lane, were also charged Monday with disorderly conduct in connection with the Saturday incident.

When the officer arrived, he could see dog training pads covering the dead cat on the sidewalk. Blood could be seen soaking through the pads and on the ground. Officer Patrick Lee saw both Harvath and Hughes, who reportedly had blood on her hands and arms.

Hughes reportedly told police it was her cat and was hit by a vehicle. The officer saw blood on the street where the cat was likely hit.

Hughes said she asked Harvath to kill it since it was suffering. She said Harvath was too weak and kept missing so she took the blunt object and hit the cat in the head to kill it. Lee said the object was a cast iron handle.

Police said a witness saw both Harvath and Hughes striking the animal.

This is not the first time that Harvath was accused of killing an animal. Township police and the Washington Area Humane Society police officer were called in January 2014 after Harvath allegedly hit Hughes’ elderly dog in the head with a car jack. Harvath told police that the animal was in poor health. Harvath reportedly admitted his actions to the humane officer, who indicated at the time that he would file animal cruelty charges, but never did.

The charges against Hughes and Harvath were sent by summons from the office of District Judge Jay Weller. They have a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 5 before Weller.