MADISON (WKOW) — A Mazomanie man is accused of causing the death of a young cat and leaving another to fend for itself.
Madison police arrested Lucas Smith for mistreating animals and abandoning an animal.
The allegations stem from a November incident on Rethke Ave. near Commercial Ave. on Madison's east side.
Stephanie Fryer, the spokesperson for the Madison Police Department (MPD), said Smith was caught on video dumping two young cats in a parking lot.
She said a business owner who the parking lot belonged to found one of the cats dead.
“The business owner checked security video from outside of their business, and just kind of was disturbed by what he saw,” Fryer said. “He saw a man essentially drop off two small cats and then run over one of those cats before speeding away from the parking lot.”
She told 27 News the video shows the man run over the cat with his car and him acknowledging that before driving off.
“Based on the video that our detectives have reviewed, the man was aware that he hit a cat prior to speeding away,” she explained.
Smith was arrested last week after weeks of trying to track him down.
In November, MPD released photos of the suspect and asked the public for help identifying the man in connection to a cruelty to animals investigation.
Fryer said they didn't anticipate the suspect, Lucas Smith, to be the one to call.
“The suspect actually called police after seeing his own image in local media reports and then worked with us from there,” she explained.
He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop.
“He had made comments when he was being taken into custody, like ‘These are just cats. These are stray cats,'” Fryer added.
Investigators aren't exactly sure where the cats came from or if they belonged to him.
Fryer said anytime a case involves animals officers treat it with seriousness and compassion, but it hits hard for everyone involved.
“You feel it for days,” she said. “We do have pet people in our department, we have a ton of animal lovers, dog lovers, cat lovers and pets have a way of just kind of really capturing our hearts.”
She said these types of cases really stick with people for a while.
“Our officers are the same way, they will think about things like this,” she added. “Detectives have to watch sometimes really horrific video and that was the case in this incident.”
As for the cat who survived, she said the employees of the business they were found outside of decided it would come home with them.
Fryer said the business owner calling and providing video evidence was essential for their investigation.
“We always ask people, if you see something weird to report it and in this case, that's what that business owner did,” she said. “He saw something that made him feel uncomfortable and reached out to us.”
Smith is expected in court Wednesday for his initial appearance.
