OTTAWA (Sun Media) - A retired North Gower dad accused of animal cruelty in the beating death of his daughter's pregnant cat says he's an animal lover.
Frank Carwardine, who owns 23 horses, seven cats and two dogs, says he had no choice but to kill the "nasty" feline with a tire iron.
"I love animals but this cat was a menace," says Carwardine, 62, who was charged with animal cruelty last week after his daughter called police in a domestic dispute.
"Sometimes there are hard decisions to be made and I made it," he says.
Carwardine says the cat started terrorizing his animals after his daughter dropped off the feline about a month ago.
SIMPLY HAD ENOUGH
He says he repeatedly asked his daughter to take away the cat, but she refused.
On the day in question, Carwardine says the cat attacked another feline and he simply had enough.
"I reached for anything close by," he says of the tire iron, "and I hit it over the head and tossed it outside."
He noticed the cat was still alive and struck it one more time, which his daughter and her friends witnessed.
"I didn't want it to suffer. I don't think hitting it on the head twice is inhumane," says Carwardine, adding he would have shot the cat if he owned a gun.
Carwardine fears that if he's convicted, he'll lose his horse boarding business.
"I'm fearing that I won't be able to have any animals here," he says, adding: "Everyone knows I love animals. I can't sleep at night because of the worry."
Humane Society investigators were unable to recover both the cat and weapon on June 7. They returned the next day and exhumed the body. An examination found the cat was pregnant with four kittens.
PENALTIES WON'T DO
Carwardine is charged with killing an animal. While the charges are serious, the penalties are not, the Ottawa Humane Society says.
"Though this case is disturbing in the extreme, unfortunately the penalties won't fit the crime," says executive director Bruce Roney.
Roney wants tougher animal cruelty legislation to prevent similar incidents.
If convicted, Carwardine faces a maximum penalty of $2,000, six months in jail and a two-year prohibition from owning or caring for animals.
Carwardine's daughter did not return calls for comment.
