Nationwide petition drive urges Elkhart County prosecutor to reconsider not charging Jayco workers with animal cruelty

ELKHART CO., Ind. (WNDU) - It’s a case that gained a lot of attention in Michiana and it has also gained attention in other states.

Three men at a Jayco plant in Middlebury put two feral cats into a trash compactor to kill them.

The men were charged on June 9, but then the charges were dismissed a few days later because Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Becker said she wanted to review the case.

A couple weeks later Becker decided to not charge the men because she said the law allowed for the killing because the cats caused damage to the building and the way they were killed did not prolong suffering.

The Elkhart County Humane Society said they were never contacted about retrieving the cats. Executive Director Robert LaRoy told WNDU.com that they would have taken the cats.

Now, a New York attorney who says she is on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Animals and the Law, has sent Becker a letter asking her to reconsider her decision.

Maria Proietti says in the letter that putting the cats in a trash compactor caused the cats suffering and significant pain.

She says there is a nationwide petition drive to get the three men charged.

Read the whole letter below

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