LEHI — A Lehi man was charged Wednesday with abusing his girlfriend's cat.
William Thurmond Chatham, 40, is charged in 4th District Court with torturing a companion animal, a third-degree felony.
On May 3, witnesses outside Chatham's home say he "picked up the cat by the neck and forcefully threw it at the ground, slamming it multiple times. He also threw the cat at the door, and repeated to slam it against the concrete step multiple times before entering the residence," according to charging documents.
Police were called and when officers talked to Chatham, they noticed "fresh scratch marks" even though he "denied harming the cat, who belonged to his girlfriend, but admitted he was rough when handling it," the charges state.
When officers inspected the cat, they found that it "showed signs of extreme physical and emotional distress, with missing fur, bleeding skin, visible injury to legs, breathing heavily, and defensive behavior," according to the charges.
