CLARE COUNTY. Mich. — A man faces charges after he allegedly killed five kittens by setting them on fire.
WNEM reports the charges against the 60-year-old Richard Bancroft stem from an investigation that began on July 3. A homeowner returned to her house in Hayes Township and discovered her five kittens had been burned in a pile, police said.
Upon filing the initial report the homeowner said she could not find her other cat. Since then the cat has been found deceased, police said.
Bancroft allegedly broke its neck.
The homeowner told police an acquaintance was at her house on Oak Woods when she left, but when she returned home later the acquaintance was gone and her kittens were dead.
Police began investigating the incident and made attempts to contact Bancroft, but they were unable to locate him, police said.
Bancroft was arrested on July 28. He is being lodged in the Clare County Jail on a $35,000 bond.
Bancroft has been charged with killing and torturing an animal.
