Man Burned Dead Kitten "To Set Its Spirit Free," He Said

By Brittini Ray

A former employee of the Eastside Kroger admitted to setting a kitten on fire in order to "set its spirit free." Michael Albert Smith, 20, said the animal was dead when he doused it with lighter fluid and touched it with a match. 

According to a story in the Athens Banner Herald, a necropsy report by the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine revealed the kitten was dead of a crushing injury before it was set on fire. The Athens Clarke County Police made the report public on Tuesday afternoon.

Smith was arrested on Monday for abandonment of a dead animal and possession of marijuana. 

In the Kroger parking lot on College Station Road on Monday morning, police officers found a burned cat corpse in a shopping cart in front of Happy China. During a police investigation, Smith said he had been trying to care for the sick kitten, but it died.

After the animal died, he went into Kroger and got a paper bag and lighter fluid. He put the cat in the bag, put the bag in a shopping cart, doused the bag with lighter fluid, set it on fire, and then pushed the cart in front of Happy China, according to police.

Smith claimed he was setting the kitten’s spirit free.

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