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ERWIN, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man is charged with burying a 6-week-old kitten alive.
Local news reports say 29-year-old Johnny Mack Rogers faces a felony aggravated animal cruelty charge in a criminal complaint filed by Unicoi County Animal Shelter Director Kevin King.
It says King informed authorities a man and woman brought the kitten to the shelter on June 22 and showed photos of them rescuing the animal from a shallow grave in Erwin.
King said the woman told him another woman at Rogers' home stepped on the kitten and Rogers buried the animal, adding that Rogers and that woman were drunk during the incident.
King said the kitten arrived covered in dirt and blood and gasping for air, and later died at an animal hospital.
It's unclear if Rogers has an attorney.
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