Mabel man charged with animal torture, cruelty after accused of attempting to drown, bury a kitten

Sep. 19—PRESTON, Minn. — A Mabel man is accused of attempting to drown then bury a kitten on his property, according to court documents filed on Thursday.

The 68-year-old is charged with two misdemeanor counts of overworking and mistreating an animal, one count relating to torture and one to cruelty.

According to the criminal complaint, Fillmore County deputies were dispatched to Cherrywood Estates in Mabel on Sept. 12 for a report of animal cruelty.

A deputy spoke with the two witnesses who reported the man. One witness said she heard him turn on the water outside the apartment complex and watched him fill a small bucket with water. The witness told the deputy he then walked inside the shed where the newborn kittens were bedding with a cat.

The kittens were originally strays, but the witness said they were caring for them. The apartment manager consented to the cats staying in the utility shed until they were old enough to give away.

The second witness said she went to the shed and found the man inside with a bucket of water and a tool, similar to a pitchfork, inside the bucket, the complaint said. When the second witness looked at the box with the cat and its kittens, she told the deputy she noticed a gray kitten was missing. She confronted the man, asking where the kitten was. He denied putting it in the water bucket and proceeded to go behind the shed with the bucket.

The two witnesses later heard a kitten crying and discovered it partially buried behind the shed.

The man is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 29 in the Fillmore County Courthouse.