Animal Cruelty by Cable TV Workers

Two cable TV workers have been accused of tying a cat to the bumper of their work truck and dragging the animal to its death by a cable.

Police pulled the two trucks from a Somers Point-based cable company on the Whitehorse Pike in New Jersey Tuesday.

"I think it's just disgusting. This case was deliberate. This wasn't just an accident," said Nancy Beall, of the Atlantic County SPCA.

An Atlantic City police sergeant said that Monday he spotted two trucks from Ocean Cable Group speeding down the Whitehorse Pike. The lead truck allegedly had a cat in tow. Investigators said that when the trucks were stopped, they found a four-foot cable had been tied around the cat's neck and then attached to the bumper.

Poice say the cable was identical to a reel found in the back of the same vehicle.

One of the cat's paws was snapped off. It was so severely mutilated, experts could not determine the animal's gender.

"I sometimes can't get over the amount of tortures that people can come up with harming an animal," Beall said.

Both drivers -- Robert Hewitt Jr., 28, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Joseph Newton Jr., 25, of Galloway Township, N.J. -- face animal cruelty charges. Police said Hewitt, the driver of the truck that dragged the cat, faces an additional charge of inhumane treatment of an animal.

Neither man was taken into police custody, however, police said Hewitt told them he did not know the cat was there and suggested children tied the animal to the bumper.

Beall doesn't buy the explanation. "You have to make a conscious effort to wrap a wire around the cat's neck and tie it to your bumper. It didn't just happen."

Although the incident happened last week, the drivers were not charged until Monday. If they are found guilty, the two men face up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine on each count.

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