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A Santa Barbara man who said he adopted, tortured and murdered a cat was sentenced to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, authorities announced Wednesday.
David Genovez, a 36-year-old Santa Barbara resident, pleaded guilty to five counts of animal cruelty and pleaded to a special allegation of personal use of a deadly weapon, according to a news release from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced to six years and eight months.
On Jan. 25, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies found a cat tied up with paracord and duct tape in a Genovese vehicle around its neck, according to the release. The cat named Sultan suffered teeth, bones and severe head injuries and was adopted in good health that morning from an animal shelter in Los Angeles.
Authorities say Genovese began adopting, torture and disposing of cats in Santa Barbara from 2024. Between August 4th and September 6th last year, Genovese is said to have adopted four cats from animal shelters in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria under unknown conditions. Genovese is said to have stole two kittens from the same shelter, which is still missing on January 15th.
Genovese is said to have stole a 2 1/2-year-old orange tabby cat named Lancelot from a Ventura resident. After he was arrested on January 30th, Lancelot was found dead in the trunk of his car, and his legs were tied up with packaging tape.
Deputies also returned to the area where Genovese was arrested and found a cat about 55 feet in Genovese’s car, officials said. The cat also had legs tied up with black duct tape, the same tape found in Genovese’s cars. The cat had bold bruises, multiple fractures, all four canines broken, and the spines and tail dislocated.
“We would like to thank our local Advanced Veterinary Services (AVS) for treating the Association for the Prevention of Abuse in Animal Cruelty (ASPCA) for their efforts to treat animals in our county and for their dedication and support in this case,” Dist. Atty. John Savrenock said in the release.
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