Man found guilty of killing cat with dog

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A jury has convicted a man accused of allowing a dog to maul a helpless cat.

According to police, 81-year-old Hume Hamilton was playing a dangerous game, but he said, it was only an accident, and he feels horrible about.

After a day of testimony Tuesday, at the Broward County Courthouse, the jury returned their verdict that same day. He was found guilty of animal cruelty charges, a third degree felony.

They agreed that Hamilton purposely allowed the 50-pound dog he was walking, on June 27, to maul a cat that was laying on a stoop on private property in Fort Lauderdale.

Disturbing surveillance video caught the confrontation along Andrews Avenue. Hamilton is seen walking a dog on a leash on the sidewalk then he walks the dog by a vehicle parked in a driveway toward the front of a building. The dog grabs a cat in its jaws, as the cat fights for its life, Hamilton is seen stomping on the cat and pulling the dog away, leaving the cat mortally wounded.

The cat's owners are satisfied with the verdict. "The man came on our property, and he killed our cat," said Wayne Spath.

Hamilton has gone back and forth, telling police that the dog pulled him toward the cat or that he was only looking to taunt the cat, expecting it jump away.

Hamilton took the stand to testify in his own defense. "I took Lisa's dog for a walk, Lady," he said, "and she saw the cat and and pulled me up to the cat and because I had sandals on, I just couldn't control, and she pulled me over so strongly that she got a hold of the cat, and I didn't mean that for that ever to happen. I thought the cat would run away, but it never did."

Hamilton had been held in jail since July, without bond, because he is facing charges in an unrelated battery trial. He was already on probation, so the judge held him without bond pending this trial. He could face jail time for this crime. He'll be sentenced next month.

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