NEW BRITAIN – A man accused of flinging cats from a staircase and beating them with a stick was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison.
His full sentence is two years in prison, suspended after 30 days, and two years of probation.
In June 2012, a judge rejected a deal that would have allowed Ternacki to apply for the accelerated rehabilitation program, a form of probation.
Several people called police at about 12:40 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2011, reporting a man at 237 Washington St. “throwing cats from a high exterior staircase, then walking down and beating them with a stick while they were on the ground,” said New Britain police Sgt. Harold Gannon.
Responding officers found one cat dead in a trash can and two more injured so severely they had to be taken to a veterinarian to be euthanized.
Several more cats ran off. Police charged Ternacki, who was 63 at the time, with seven counts of animal cruelty.
The cats apparently were left behind in an apartment by a tenant that had been evicted. The landlords asked Ternacki, a relative, for help removing the cats but said they didn’t know what Ternacki allegedly planned to do, police said.
His lawyer said he was defending himself from aggressive cats he was helping remove from a vacant apartment.
Story by Hilda Munoz, Hartford Courant