Ogden police investigate after video shows man spraying caged cat with water hose as “punishment”

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) — Ogden police confirmed to ABC4.com Tuesday that an animal cruelty investigation is underway in connection with a video showing a man spraying down a caged feral cat with a pressure washer as a form of “punishment.”

Lt. Will Farr said the department is taking the case “absolutely seriously” because what is shown in the video could meet the state’s definition of animal cruelty, particularly because the animal was in a cage and may have injured itself in an attempt to escape.

The video of the man spraying the cat recently circulated on a popular Ogden-area Facebook page. In the video, the man can be seen spraying a cat with a pressure washer at close range while it is locked in a cage and unable to escape.

The man, whose name is not being used on ABC4.com because he is not accused of any crime, said in the video that the cat had been showing up at his home repeatedly over the past six months and attacking his own cat.

“It’s time for him to receive his punishment,” says the man before spraying the caged animal.

What happened to the cat after the water jet is unknown. It is also unclear whether the animal was injured or released.

The original video has been removed but has since been shared on social media by concerned locals. On Sunday A petition has been created calls for an investigation into the alleged abuse. More than 700 signatures have been collected so far.

Juli Ulvestad, director of the Humane Society of Utah’s Pet Resource Center, told ABC4 on Monday that it was disturbing to see someone punish a cat for fun.

“It is not a humane deterrent to free-roaming cats coming onto your property, and it is not effective,” she said.

Ulvestad mentioned a similar case in Florida, where a Daytona man was charged with animal cruelty earlier this year after is said to have sprayed a caged cat with a high-pressure hose.

Under Utah law, animal cruelty is defined in cases where a person injures an animal intentionally, knowingly, negligently or through criminal negligence. If committed intentionally, the crime can be punished with imprisonment and a fine of up to $2,500.