Man Points Gun At Cat In Facebook Photo, Thomas McGuinness Jokes: ‘We Only Shot It Twice’

A Florida man named Thomas McGuinness created a stir when he posted Facebook photos of himself holding a gun to the head of a cat and a dog. Worse, when people reacted negatively on Facebook he made a joke about it by saying, “Don’t know why everybody so mad about a cat, we only shot it twice.” Worried about the safety of the animals involved, the Animal Welfare League in Port Charlotte had police investigate the possible case of animal cruelty.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, cases of animal cruelty have on the rise in recent times. One Pennsylvania man admitted to beating his cats to death with a golf club because they “betrayed” him by scratching him. Another case in Indiana involved 30 cats being tortured to death. In Florida, two teenagers tortured, burned, and stomped to death a gopher tortoise and were arrested as a result.

Executive Director of the Animal Welfare League in Port Charlotte Sharon Thomas says she almost cried when she saw the photo of McGuinness holding a cat by the scruff of its neck and pointing a handgun at its head. She said that seeing “something like that, it just turns my stomach.” Charlotte County Animal Control Division Manager Lt. Brian Jones was also angered by the photos and decided to investigate them as possible animal abuse:

“It angers us beyond belief. That’s a confession, where I come from if we found a dead cat. It’s a case of interest, and we just want to prove that the animals are OK and that he’s OK, that’s it.”

According to Thomas, the photos themselves were an act of animal cruelty:

“Just to pretend you’re doing it or to think that it’s funny in any shape or form is criminal to me.”

But when police made contact with Thomas McGuinness he apologized for the photos and claimed the animals were in fact in perfect health. Animal services will still be checking on the cat and dog in order to ensure their safety, but officer Jones says McGuinness cannot be cited for animal cruelty if the animals are physically unharmed.