A Jacksonville man was arrested on a charged of aggravated animal cruelty early Tuesday morning after he threw a kitten against a kitchen counter, injuring it, police said.
Michael Markham's wife told investigators he picked up two kittens off of a bed that had been set up in the dining room of the family's home in the 7000 block of South Arkansas 161 and began "throwing" them late Monday night, according to a Jacksonville Police Department report.
One kitten hit the counter with its back and ran off uninjured, but the other hit the counter, fell to the floor, began twitching and then stopped moving, according to the report.
The wife told investigators that Markham then said the kitten was dead before taking it outside and throwing it over the fence, the report said.
According to the report, Markham then threatened to beat his wife, said he was "going to do the same thing to her that he did to the kitten" and wouldn't let her leave the residence until after 1 a.m. Tuesday, when she went to a gas station to get cigarettes. The woman wrote 'Help' on the receipt and officers located her car and followed it back to the family's home.
Markham reportedly told the officers that his wife didn't "know what she was talking about" and that the family had only one kitten, which was in the house in apparent good health. But, police said, they found an injured kitten outside near the fence.
The report said the kitten was alive but had an apparent broken leg and was experiencing "labored breathing."
In addition to the felony animal-cruelty charge, Markham was charged with terroristic threatening, the report said.