Florida woman caught trying to drown her cat in a drain says she was 'taking it to Jesus'
In a case of bizarre animal cruelty, a Florida woman has been arrested and charged after she was found trying to drown her cat in an attempt to "send it to Jesus".
Just three days after the US Senate voted unanimously to make animal abuse a federal crime, 37-year-old Amanda Goodwin was caught holding her pet in a drain. The cat, whose name is Hubble, has been taken to Edgewater Animal Shelter and is expected to make a recovery without permanent injuries.
The Dayton Beach News-Journal reported that the Edgewater police received a 911 call about a woman trying to harm a cat at 2300 block of Silver Palm Drive. When they arrived, they found Goodwin "holding a cat in obvious distress." They found both the woman and the cat wet and covered in mud. "The cat was covered in mud, mewing, shaking and appeared to be terrified,” the police report said. After the officer caught Goodwin, the cat escaped and ran and hid under the police car. He was later picked up by Animal Control.
Jason O’Keefe, who was a witness told the police that he had been driving by when he spotted the woman at the culvert "placing dirt on the cat's head" and trying to drown the animal. He called the police and at one point he told the police that "she said she was taking the cat to Jesus." According to Fox 35, a witness said, "She was shoving the cat's head in the culvert pipe and putting dirt on the cat. I’ve never seen a cat pant like a dog. Its gums were white."
Another witness who was walking his dog saw her sitting in a ditch with her cat in a field nearby.
According to the police report, Goodwin changed her story when she met law enforcement. She said that the cat had been feeling hot and she decided to bring the cat to the drainage because the faucet was broken. The arrested for animal cruelty, Fox 35 reported and was taken to Volusia County Branch Jail.