Cops: Sayville man crushed cat to death
BY MATTHEW CHAYES

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-licasts0228,0,7798658.story

A Sayville man who lost his temper and manhandled his girlfriend's cats has been charged with felony animal cruelty after one of them died of its injuries, Suffolk police said.

David Wrigley, of Virginia Court, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in connection with the death of Maddeline the cat, age 8, authorities said. After spending Tuesday night in jail, Wrigley was released without bail following the hearing.

The other cat, Jynx, age 6, sustained broken ribs and other injuries said Sara Sabol, now Wrigley's ex-girlfriend.

Sabol, 27, a hairdresser who began dating Wrigley in December after he came to her salon for a haircut, said she would never talk to him again.

"These cats are my babies. They're not just cats to me. They're my children. I can't forgive this person," a distraught Sabol, 27, said. "And you betray me and you beat my cats, and one of them died? How could I forgive you?"

Police said Wrigley had a testy relationship with the cats.

"The cats didn't take to him. They didn't like him, wouldn't come over and crawl on his lap type of thing," said the Sixth precinct's Lt. Michael S. Murphy. "So -- and this is his version -- he was trying to get them to like him."

The cats sustained their injuries when Wrigley, 24, tried Saturday night to move the cats from behind the bed in the home Wrigley and Sabol shared on Highview Avenue in Selden, Murphy said. When the cats wouldn't budge, he yanked the bed out -- then slammed it back, crushing the cats between the bed and the wall, Murphy said.

"Eventually, he reached under the bed to pull them out, and they wouldn't come, and he grabbed them and squeezed them," Murphy said, "which probably worsened the injuries they had."

Sabol, who wasn't home at the time, came home shortly afterward to find her cats acting sluggish. Sabol asked Wrigley what was wrong with the cats. Wrigley did not acknowledge what had happened and dismissed her suggestions that they bring the cats to the veterinarian, Sabol said.

Wrigley Wednesday said he made a mistake.

"I never meant to hurt anything," Wrigley said shortly after his arraignment in Central Islip Wednesday. "It's bad enough that I lost a girl that I love."

Staff writer Joseph Mallia contributed to this story.