'A nightmare I’ll have for life': Witness recounts cat killing at southeast Calgary condo

Witness stunned by cat death Woman recounts seeing cat killed. Jordan Kanygin reports

Some may find the details in this story disturbing.

A woman who witnessed a cat being beaten to death with a baseball bat at a southeast Calgary condo called it “the worst thing I saw in my life” and says she will have nightmares.

The woman, who CTV News Calgary is not naming, says she was sitting on her deck having a cup of coffee about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 6200 block of 17th Avenue S.E. when her neighbour came onto his adjoining deck, calling his cat.

“I just pointed out the kitty to him, ‘He’s right there,’ and the next thing you know, the bat came down,” she said.

“I just got off that chair and ran over and screamed, ‘What the f*** are you doing?’ I can’t say what he said … but the cat was still alive and I moved to the corner and he was still waving that bat, and the cat was doing flip-flopping," the woman said. "I was crying and went inside … I couldn’t watch anymore.”

The woman called the ordeal, “the worst thing I saw in my life."

"It’s going to be a nightmare I’ll have for life," she said. "It was so wrong on many levels.”

Police said officers were called to the scene and a bat was seized. Officers also confirm a dead cat was removed from the premises and a man was arrested.

Wayne Ogden Huston, 63, of Calgary, is facing two animal cruelty-related charges, one count of maiming, wounding, killing or poisoning a domestic cat, and one count of unlawfully causing pain or suffering to an animal.

He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court July 31.

Another neighbour, Debbie, who asked that her last name not be used, called the attack, “disgusting.”

“I love animals and I think that’s disgusting, it’s just disgusting. I’m just angry,” she said.

“I hope he doesn’t come back here.”

The investigation continues.

(With files from CTV News Calgary's Mark Villani)