This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

An 18-year-old man in New Jersey is awaiting trial in jail for torturing and sexually abusing his cat Ellie for months before finally killing her. Urge the county prosecutor to support maximum sentencing in this atrocious case.

On March 2, 2023, an investigation was launched after a concerned citizen brought Ellie's battered body to the Asbury Park Police Department. Police, along with the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Humane Law Enforcement Division concluded the cat had belonged to Bani Mezquititla.

He is alleged to have sexually abused and tortured Ellie for months before killing her. Her tongue and lower jaw had also been cut off before she died and her lifeless body was thrown out a window.

According to the Monmouth County prosecutor's office, Mezquititla, was arrested and charged with one count of animal cruelty for tormenting, torturing, or cruelly abusing a living animal, resulting in death, and one count of sexually abusing an animal.

Both charges are third-degree felonies each carrying a maximum sentence of five years of incarceration. If found guilty on both counts, Mezquititla could serve two five-year terms consecutively.

Thankfully, Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn has denied a request for bail and ordered him held in the Monmouth County Jail until trial or a plea agreement can be reached. When told it wasn't a big deal because it was “only” done to a cat by the defense attorney, the judge argued the connection between violence to humans and other animals.

After serving the most time possible, this man must never be allowed near animals again and must undergo a mental evaluation, extensive therapy, and closely supervised probation.

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.