Two Portland men accused of chopping kitten's head off

PORTLAND — Two Portland teenagers were arrested on aggravated abuse charges, accused of chopping the head off a kitten after placing it in scalding water.

Cody A. Scheewe, 18, who also is charged with dealing marijuana, is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail. Robert J. Wagner, 19, is being held in lieu of $10,000.

Scheewe and Wagner said they were giving the kitten named White Socks a bath at an apartment complex and forgot to check the water temperature, said Officer Cathe Kent, the Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman.

According to Kent, the men realized their mistake and then decided they should kill the cat with a hatchet: "After about eight whacks they were able to kill the cat."

The pair tossed the head and body of the kitten over a fence and the remains landed behind a mini-mart next door, Kent said this week.

Austin Wallace, a Humane Society investigator, said he's seen lots of gruesome cases but this is one of the most extreme.

"A normal person is going to take the animal to a veterinarian," Wallace said. "This is just bizarre."

Shaina Nelson, 19, one of the owners of the 7-week-old kitten, said Wagner, an acquaintance who had been staying at the apartment, showed her the kitten's remains.

"He said, 'The cat's dead,"' said Nelson, 19. "He had no emotion on his face... I was hurt. I was mad. I wanted to hurt somebody because they hurt my cat. That was our baby."

Nelson said Wagner blamed the death on Scheewe, saying Scheewe had beheaded White Socks because the kitten had urinated on him. But when police arrived, the men told of trying to bathe the cat in the hot water.

Nelson said other stories of animal abuse emerged. She said Wagner told her that Scheewe blew marijuana smoke into the microwave, then trapped two other household cats inside. One of those cats has been having trouble breathing, Nelson said.

Nelson said the two teens were homeless, and she and another roommate agreed to let them stay for a week because they wanted to help them out.