September 18, 2008

Joseph Petcka has plead not guilty, claiming self defense, in the killing of his girlfriend's cat, Norman. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK -– An actor admits to killing his ex-girlfriend's orange tabby but denies the attack was unwarranted, claiming self-defense.

The unusual animal cruelty case commenced Wednesday in New York City courts.

ASPCA police arrested Joseph Petcka, 36, last April after a veterinarian, who inspected the seven-and-a-half-pound cat and pronounced it dead, notified the authorities.

Petcka, who has appeared in "Sex and the City" and was once a minor-league baseball player for the Mets, faces up to two years in prison if convicted.

Norman's owner, Lisa Altobelli, testified Wednesday in court, saying that when she found her lifeless cat in her apartment, she called up Petcka, her boyfriend at the time.

" 'What kind of monster could kill an innocent cat?' " she recalled in court.

Petcka's lawyer, Charles Hochbaum, admitted his client "swatted him really hard," but said that the incident "was a tragic accident."

And Petcka maintains the 8-year-old cat has always been hostile.

"The cat had always hissed and growled at me as I was being nice to him," Petcka reportedly told the ASPCA police when arrested. "I don't know why he attacked me, as I always wanted to keep my distance with him."

Trouble started one late night when Altobelli and Petcka, intoxicated at the time, got into a fight and he accused her of loving the cat more than him, The New York Post reported.

Altobelli left her apartment around 3 a.m. and later returned to find Norman's lifeless body in her bedroom.

The cat was found to have suffered several broken ribs, internal bleeding, crushed teeth and a torn tongue, says Joseph Pentangelo, ASPCA'S assistant director of law enforcement.

Petcka likely used his hands and feet, and not any weapons, to kill Norman.

"The results of the necropsy indicated that there was an instance of severe trauma and violence," Pentangelo said in an interview with Pet Pulse.

This isn't the first time Pentangelo has seen New Yorkers claim self-defense in an animal cruelty case, even when one animal weighed less than five pounds.

But it is the first time any such case actually made it to court.

"We usually see it where the person says this dog or cat was attacking me and they show scratches or bites," Pentangelo said. "Interestingly, here, the cat weighed seven and a half pounds, and the defendant is six-foot-three and over 200 pounds. I don't know how much alarm Norman could have caused or why he would be motivated to attack."

An ASPCA veterinarian testified in court today and said Norman's injuries could have just as easily come from falling out of a window, or getting run over by a car.

Dr. Robert Reisman said that Norman's broken teeth and lacerated tongue led him to believe Petcka took the cat and hit "its face on a hard surface."

"This is kicking it at a goal," Resiman said, according to The New York Daily News. "This was not pushing it away."

Resiman estimates Norman suffered for about 15 minutes, and appears to have dragged himself to die beneath Altobelli's bed stand -- one of his favorite places to hide.

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The New York Post, The Associated Pres and The New York Daily News contributed to this article.