ALBANY (AP) -- Authorities have charged a 44-year-old man with killing a cat by swinging it by its tail and slamming it several times onto a sidewalk in downtown Albany.
Police spokesman Steven Smith says witnesses told officers outside the Times Union Center around noon Wednesday that a man killed a cat that had been hit by a car at a busy intersection. He tossed the body in a garbage can.
Police say 44-year-old James Backus of Cohoes was sitting on the arena steps when witnesses told officers posted there about the incident. Smith says Backus' girlfriend was taking the state bar exam inside the arena.
Backus was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and released.
Police didn't know if he had a lawyer. There was no phone listing for Backus.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
