Posted: May 3, 2008 2 a.m. EDT
The investigation into whether a cat was killed with a stun gun by jail deputies in Orange County, Calif., has been closed. “There is no real proof that the cat was Tasered,” said John McDonald, Orange County sheriff’s spokesman.
A necropsy performed on the black cat that was found dead in April on the grounds of Theo Lacy Jail was inconclusive, McDonald said. The investigation is complete.
A licensed pathologist examined the cat’s corpse as part of a probe into allegations that jail deputies shocked the cat to death with a Taser stun gun. The department requested a full necropsy after an inmate spoke to jail personnel about having witnessed the incident.
“They weren’t able to tell us how the cat had died,” McDonald said, “mainly because of the decomposition of the body.”
The department has been under fire over the handling of the October 2006 beating death of a jail inmate by fellow prisoners while deputies watched television. Grand jury transcripts of that case were released recently.