Police: Connecticut man shot neighbor’s ‘annoying’ cat

OXFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut man police say fatally shot his neighbor’s cat has been charged with animal cruelty.

State police say 48-year-old Craig Middendorf, of Oxford, was also charged after the shooting Sunday with unlawful discharge of a firearm and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Middendorf told police he thought the cat was a stray and it was annoying him.

The cat actually belonged to a tenant in the other half of the duplex in which he lives.

Troopers seized a .22-caliber rifle but say they didn’t find any other guns in his unit.

Middendorf is free on $2,500 bond pending a Feb. 5 court appearance.