Man charged with beating, decapitating kitten outside closed animal shelter

Published 6:14 am Friday, May 31, 2019

A Mississippi man was arrested Wednesday on animal cruelty charges and later released on a $2,000 bond for allegedly beating a kitten to death outside of the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society.

Adams County Sheriff’s office spokesperson, Lt. Cal Green said an employee at the Humane Society filed a report Tuesday morning stating they found a kitten that had been brutally beaten and decapitated just outside of the Humane Society.

Green said investigators later reviewed video surveillance of a vehicle registered to John Sean Swoveland, 54, driving up to the humane society.

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Green said the footage showed a man, believed to be Swoveland, exiting the vehicle and appeared to be reading the business hours on the door outside of the humane society before returning to his vehicle and pulling it to the side of the driveway.

The man reportedly exited the vehicle again with piece of wood that looked like a 2-by4 and walked to the passenger side and started beating something on the ground next to the vehicle.

Swoveland was arraigned for a misdemeanor charge of aggravated animal cruelty to animals Thursday and was released on a cash bond of $2,000, Green said.