SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – A man and woman are accused of torturing an animal after they allegedly put a kitten in a sandwich container and duct-taped it shut.
Justin Epperson, 45, and Emily Allred, 41, were arrested early Monday morning in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, for torture of a companion animal and drug possession, court documents filed in Salt Lake County show. Cottonwood Heights is roughly 15 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, police found the two slumped over a steering wheel in a vehicle that was illegally camping in the city. Officers detained the two, and found them both in possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
They were also covered in cat fur, and officers could hear a faint meowing from inside the car.
Sgt. Gary Young with Cottonwood Heights police said the officers found the kitten stuffed into a sandwich container, with only its head outside the Tupperware-like box.
The animal “had feces all over it and was in very poor health,” the court documents state.
Animal control officers brought the kitten to Angel Paws Veterinary Services for treatment.
Richelle Gruber, the executive director of Angel Paws, said the kitten was in critical but stable condition. She estimated the kitten, a female, was about six weeks old.
According to the Utah State Legislature, animal cruelty becomes a third-degree felony if the perpetrator intentionally tortures a companion animal, such as a dog or cat.
Third-degree felonies in Utah are punishable by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both.
