Western, Pa. man goes to trial for shooting his wife's cat

DILLINER, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania man will stand trial on a charge of cruelty to animals for allegedly shooting his wife’s cat inside their mobile home.

Greene County prosecutors earlier withdrew a more serious charge of reckless endangerment against 37-year-old Charles Cleaver, and a district judge dismissed a charge of discharging a gun in an occupied structure.

State police say Cleaver came home from a bar and asked his wife where his .22-caliber rifle was about 2:30 a.m. March 15.

His wife told police Cleaver found the gun and shot the cat as it played with a toy nearby, then threw the still-moving animal outside.

Police say they arrived to find the dead cat outside, and Cleaver asleep inside, not far from a bullet hole and blood stains.

Cleaver has pleaded not guilty.