Couple Arrested On Drug Charges Also Accused Of Binding Cat's Paws With Electrical Tape

SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA.com) — A man and woman arrested Saturday night on suspicion of selling narcotics has also been booked on felony animal cruelty charges after officers found a young cat duck-taped in the backseat of their car, authorities said.

The suspects, both in their 20's, were stopped by patrolling Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies behind a closed business.

Upon examining the suspects' car, the deputies found narcotics, as well as a cat "buried upside-down in a cat carrier."

The deputies found that the cat's individual paws were bound by electrical tape, and then both of the cat's front and rear legs were bound together.

Deputies said the cat was "meowing loudly in discomfort" and deputies worked quickly to untie its paws.

The suspects told deputies they had bound the cat's paws so it would stop scratching.

The cat was taken to the Antelope Valley Animal Shelter for examination and could be put up for adoption.