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Century Man Charged With Allegedly Shooting Cat, Dumping Body
July 26, 2019
A Century man is facing a felony animal cruelty charge after allegedly shooting a cat in Walnut Hill before dumping the body.
Austin Everett Berry, 27, was charge with aggravated animal cruelty and unlawful disposal of the a dead animal.
Berry allegedly shot a cat on Green Village Road with a 12-gauge shotgun and then threw the body into an area of overgrown bushes, according to an arrest report.
A woman told the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office that she had exited a house in the area and heard a loud boom like a shotgun. She said she observed a male later identified as Berry place either two kittens on one large cat in a bag, and she said she asked Berry if he had shot the cat. She told deputies he answered, “[Expletive] year I did”, the ECSO report states.
Deputies and Escambia County Animal Control located the deceased black and white domestic cat in large overgrown area about 20 yards off the road by a fence. The remains were removed by animal control for proper disposal.
The Sheriff’s Office seized Berry’s loaded pump action 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition to be placed into evidence.
Berry made statements to the sheriff’s deputy, but those statements were redacted from the arrest report. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $2,750 bond.
Comments
43 Responses to “Century Man Charged With Allegedly Shooting Cat, Dumping Body”
Just to clarify a little here – this was not somebody’s pet kitty… it was wild cat and they are a pain in the behind out here thanks to other folks. People think little kittens are cute and keep them for about a year until they grow up to be a cat, then they think the normal thing to do is to bring them out here and dump them off for us to deal with. To make it worse, they breed and increase the wild cat herd. This dude only made 2 mistakes 1. he didn’t make sure no one was around and 2. he didn’t properly eliminate the body so they could just go get it. I vote we open up a season to hunt them without a bad limit.
Cat on Car = Dead Cat
That’s how it works in the sticks.
What if it were a snake ?
He would be a hero.
Austin berry is NOT a cruel person to animals he owns animals of his own and will help any animal he can with that being said one day on the way home he saw a poor innocent bird on the side of the road about to die,couldn’t fly he stopped and brought the bird home and nursed it back to health when the bird was able to fly he set it free he has also nursed a dog back to health and you got to have a heart for animals to do things that he has done for animals. He is not who some of y’all are trying to make him out to be I try to upload the picture’s of him with the bird and dog but my phone won’t let me upload no pictures sorry
I am disabled and I couldn’t protect myself or my service dog.
@jason i couldnt have put in better words my self nicely said it was a problem that guy solved that problem by by kitty
There would not be a feral cat problem if people spayed and neutered their cats or become pro active in helping the groups that trap, fix and release. Owners have a responsibility.
That cat was a destroyer of song birds, a stalker of humming bird feeders and a killer of baby chickens and kittens. The Village elders had already condemned the cat. All the young man did was to carry out the sentence.
I agree with Mike on this one.
Two deputies and animal control….what a waste of time and money!!! FOR A CAT!!!!???
And, LEO arrested him and took his gun!!!??? OVER A CAT!!!???
PEOPLE ARE NUTS!!!! AMERICANS HAVE GONE INSANE!!!
Not true. I adopted one recently that had been at the shelter for three months.
I use to visit animal control. They euthanize cats as fast as they come in. I would have thought they would have appreciated this to save the County some money.
feral cats has been a long drawn out issue in Escambia county ,al. and fl.
I know several people that feed these animals on a daily basis. they are going to get worse.
to the woman or man that turned him in is part of the problem. he done wrong just by throwing the carcus out, I would have buried it i.m.o.
it is not up to the counties to control the huge problem, it’s too big for them.
vets are happy to help out for a big fee, I’ve have been down that road. local vets or animal shelters will not contribute to reduce the population, calling and negotiating does no good.
so here we are.
BTW is it OK to kill a cockroach? Why in your bleeding hearts cockroach has less rights than a feral cat? Why killing a smart raccoon/possum is better than killing a cat?
And PLEASE don’t make connections to killing humans. He killed a deer/fish/pig today, he will kill humans tomorrow? Nonsense.
He painlessly killed the cat. Caboom, not even a microsecond to feel the pain. Vet offices do the the same for a hefty fee. He threw it in the bush, bad, like all the dead animals I see everyday on the roads, bad too, but nobody gets arrested for roadkill.
The comments scare me though. You people want to crucify him for killing a cat. Why don’t you do the same for folks killing deer, cattle, chicken, fish etc. My only answer is insanity. Insanity of those who want to destroy a human over a cat, but feel fine about killing gazillions of other animals.
Was the cat a stray? Did it belong to anyone as a pet? Did it have it’s rabies shot up to date? What are to rules of disposal for dead animals? Will animal control come the north end of the county to pick up a stray cat? Did the cat show signs of aggression or poor social skills? Was it a safety risk to the manand or his family?
I don’t know this man but before I will cast judgement these questions need to be answered.. I live on a somewhat isolated road and people like to use it as a dumping ground for unwanted animals. Most of the time we find homes for them but there are those occasions when one is aggressive and unwilling to let people near it. When that happens I am not willing to take a chance on one of my grandchildren getting hurt.
So with that said I will wait and see where this goes. Maybe someone has more details.
Is spraying wasps or pulling wings off a fly a crime? Stepping on ants? These creatures are part of earth too! Wasps have Mommies and babies and deserve to live just as much as any creature, but only furry cute animals are put on a pedestal and are protected . We need to start jailing folks that kill flys. Walmart sells flyswatters for goodness sake, which is a murder machine!
Is this a joke? If killing a stray dog or cat that is infringing on your property is wrong, the. People have lost their damn minds.
Whatever. This panny-anny government nanny statism to the nth degree. 100 years ago, heck 5 years ago, this would’ve been ignored by sensible law enforcement. What a complete and total waste of tax dollars. He will probably get off with nothing, and should. Besides, what’s the rest of the story? Was the cat sick? Was it rabid? Was it harassing his pets? Way to stick your nose where it DOESN’T need to be!
The stray cats on the north end are a pestilence. The county animal control needs to do a better job. We pay for the services.
Bleeding hearts – - grow up.
While I don’t condone shooting the cat to dispose of it, this county has a terrible feral cat problem. I have four that I took to the vet with the help of animal allies, had them spayed and vaccinated and now they live outside under my barn. They are great ratters and help to keep the critter population down on our property.
If ferals can’t be disposed of properly, what will the county do about it? Round them up and euthanize them? I do know there is a spay and release program. If you have a cat population problem, call them and they may help you out by at least fixing them so that they can’t reproduce like crazy. One cat can have 3 to 4 litters of kittens a year. They are prolific!
Part of the solution might be for folks who can to take some of them in and get them fixed. There are low cast/no cost spay programs out there. You just need to look.
@g well you may need to slow down huh.
Arm the dog catcher, you’ve armed our life guards. Our new army to protect
our wild dogs and cats. fine $2750 and jail time
pfffft…. he couldn’t afford the vet bill. that’s how we used to handle it. seems like there is some folks need the treatment that cat got
look online for the study done about how far domestic cats wander when left outside.
also look up how many birds and smaller creatures they kill while they are wandering around. domestic cats left outside unattended are walking ecological disasters and it should be open season on them.
Proper Disposal Per Florida DEP:
Bodies of captive wildlife, of fish or marine mammals, as well as bodies of domestic animals that have not died due to disease, may either be used, burned, disposed of in a Class I landfill, or disposed of on the property where they died, or other properties approved of by the Department, provided they are buried at least two feet below the surface of the ground and above the water table
5-10 for running over that squirrel.
SMH… Next will be animal slaughter charges when they run in front of your car on the highway.
@nice I am all for animals. And that wasn’t even his cat. So yeah if he will do this to a cat what will he do to a person.
Also 500hrs cleaning cages at animal shelter.
Terrible about the cat. Glad he was turned in.
But, what about the of KILLING HUMANS every day by abortions. Where’s the outcry?
And, I am not confusing the two issues.
Both are living, and after the act, both are dead…..lifeless
Animal abusers turn into human killers. And I agree with Rance, sell the gun and any other weapons he has and give to the Humane Society.
You are a despicable person. How can anyone harm a poor defenseless animal in this way? I just don’t understand people these days – this generation has raised monsters!
More animal worship
Always best to distract from real issues
Reader… Killing a coon or a cat, AL or FL – the difference is one was self defense. you have a right to defend yourself from a wild animal. if you fear for your life or the life of a Loved one. by whatever means possible.
I wasn’t there for either, but from what I read on both …. This was just Cruel, so he was charged.
Honestly people, y’all need to stop that raccoon
Thank you for reporting him Miss Bobbie!
“Let me see if I understand this correctly. You cannot shot a cat with a 12-guage shotgun but it’s okay to beat a raccoon to death with a shovel. ”
Two totally different incidents in different states with different laws. You can get away with all kinds of crap in Alabama that Florida will put your butt in jail for.
I am that woman. And yes he shot that poor cat. And I will call cops again if he does it again.
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You cannot shot a cat with a 12-guage shotgun but it’s okay to beat a raccoon to death with a shovel. Austin’s statements were redacted from the arrest report. He probably told then that the cat was foaming at the mouth and tried to attack him. Austin, next time, use a shovel. This is a prime example of a judicial system that is horribly messed up. Where is equal rights when you need them? You need to arrest both men or let both of them off the hook.
Thank you for turning him in! There are other ways to get rid of a cat if you don’t want one! She did the right thing!
If he can do that to poor little animals what can he do to humans? He will face that in hell.animal absusers dont get enough punishment these days.
Nobody condones this man’s shooting of an unwanted cat. However, we continue to close our eyes to the fact that millions of unwanted animals are still euthanized in shelters around the country. Instead of spending money on catching and euthanizing animals offer free spaying and neutering for everybody. The Netherlands is the first country in the world with no stray animals and that is one service that is offered there. The Netherlands are a small country with a very high standard of living – needless to say we cannot implement all their measures of animal population control – but we should make a start.
sell the shotgun – give the money to the humane society