UPDATE: Veterinarian Richard Timothy Logan has pleaded not guilty and the cat’s owners have filed a civil lawsuit against him. Read more here: Vet’s Lawyer: He Wasn’t Abusing A Cat, He Was ‘Appearing To Abuse A Cat’
A longtime veterinarian in Alabama has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty for hitting, choking and dropping a terrified cat in his exam room, according to police.
Richard Timothy Logan, 65, is a veterinarian at Andrews Avenue Animal Hospital in Ozark, Alabama.
A man identified as Logan was examining a calico cat in November, in an exam room at the animal hospital when he grabbed the cat by the scruff of her neck and punched her on the top of her head with a closed fist, video of the exam shows. Still holding the cat by her scruff, he slammed her down onto the exam table, then did it again more forcefully.
Logan then swiped the cat off the exam table, causing her to fall to the floor.
Logan steps out of the frame for several seconds, then the video cuts forward, showing Logan again with his hands on the cat as a veterinary assistant holds the terrified, screaming feline down.
He punches the cat a second time, makes an annoyed gesture, then picks the cat up by her collar and dangles her as she struggles.
Animal rights activists and local people outraged by the video protested outside Andrews Avenue Animal Hospital this week, holding signs of the abused calico and demanding the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medicine — which is conducting its own investigation separate from the criminal probe — revoke Logan’s license.
“We’re hoping for awareness, first of all, of animal abuse and we’re hoping that Dr. Logan will lose his license,” cat owner Rhonda Eller told Alabama’s Dothan Eagle. “There should not be veterinarians that don’t love animals and care for animals. Obviously, they should choose a different profession.”
Some of the protesters were clients of the animal hospital, and were alarmed not only by what they saw on the video — which was anonymously posted to Facebook on April 5 — but what may have happened behind closed doors when they brought their own pets in.
“I’ve been coming here so long, leaving my animals overnight [or] for a week when he said they needed it,” Michele Brown, a client of the hospital, told the Eagle. “What has happened to my animals while they were here and I never knew it?”
Neither Logan nor the animal hospital have issued public statements on the allegations, but Logan’s attorney, David Harrison, is acting as if the video does not show his client terrorizing a cat who was supposed to be in his care.
“He is a good veterinarian and people are destroying this man’s reputation,” Harrison told WTVY, an Alabama local news station. “I have instructed Dr. Logan to file a lawsuit against all who have smeared lies on social media. Facebook is not a court of law.”
Logan was charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.
Under Alabama law, if Logan is convicted, the most severe potential sentence is a $3,000 fine and up to one year in county jail. Because he doesn’t have priors, if he’s convicted he’s not likely to serve any jail time. Animal cruelty is a misdemeanor in Alabama’s penal code.
In the meantime, comments from Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams do not sound promising.
“While this video is deeply concerning, I would like to take this opportunity to implore people to have this same concern over child victim crimes and gun violence,” Adams said, appearing to downplay the severity of the allegations against Logan.
The cat “is alive and doing better with its owner,” Ozark police wrote in a statement posted to Facebook. Cops say they’ve interviewed the owner as well as “other witnesses.” It’s not clear if those witnesses include the veterinary tech who was present or other employees at the animal hospital, nor did police say who filmed the abuse.
Top photo: Richard Timothy Logan mugshot courtesy Ozark Police Department
Pain In The Bud 
If they believe that that video was faked, they might as well believe that the moon landing was a hoax.
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His attorney is full of bluster. He can’t sue people for sharing a video. What concerns me most is the DA’s comments. He sounds like a man who cannot understand why people are so upset about this.
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Why didn’t the vet tech stop him?
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Good question. I hope the police asked that question too. It seems to me that this was not particularly unusual behavior at that animal hospital.
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This sick fuck needs to be changed and used as a piñata!!!
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WHAT IN BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT MONSTEROUS (AND I USE THE TERM MILDLY) dr.? OMG!!! BECAUSE HE IS A dr. HE SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP ON DOUBLE CHARGES! TAKE YOUR BAD DAY OUT ON THE WALL. HE IS A DISGRACE TO HUMAN KIND. I HARDLY DOUBT IT WAS HIS FIRST TIME BEATING AN ANIMAL. THE POOR KITTY WAS PROBABLY SEDATED AS WELL WHILE HE BRUTALIZED HIM OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND THEN AGAIN. AND, IF THAT WASN’T ENOUGH HE STRANGLE THE POOR KITTY WITH THE LEASH NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. EVEN IF HE’S FOUND GUILTY HIS SENTENCE IS NOT ENOUGH. HE WILL SIMPLY MOVE TO ANOTHER STATE AND START AGAIN. HE SHOULD LOSE BOTH HANDS FOR WHAT HE DID TO THAT KITTY.
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Holy crap, fine him at least $10, throw his a$$ in jail for at least a year, and close his fracking office!! It’s horrifying that a veterinarian, of all people, would treat any cat, or small dog, or hamster, or any critter, so horribly! Have not been so appalled in a long time. My father was a veterinarian, if he were still alive he’d probably go down there in person and punch this a$$holes lights out. And I’d drive him down there from Virginia.
Oh my goodness. I’m at a loss for words.
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I feel bad for the cat and her human, as well as all the people who were clients and are now wondering what this guy did to their pets behind closed doors.
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Goodness gracious, YES! And how horrible all the clients must be feeling. And the poor poor critters. UGH.UGH UGH.
This should not be a misdemeanor ANYWHERE in the US. These are helpless critters that have no choice. A$$hole needs to rot in jail.
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I meant, fine him at least $10K. And I agree with what everyone else has posted.
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