Plant City Man Freed Without Bail In Cat Dunking Case

A Plant City man is free tonight after his arrest Monday on felony animal cruelty charges.

He is accused of snaring a cat in a raccoon trap, spraying it with a hose and then submerging the feline, trap and all, in a barrel filled with water.

Harold Gene Beall, 66, was arrested at 7 p.m. Monday at his home, 3808 McGee Road, said Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies. He is charged with one count of felony animal cruelty and was released from jail this afternoon without having to post bail.

The cat, which lives in the neighborhood, survived and is recovering at the Hillsborough County Animal Services shelter, said animal services spokeswoman Marti Ryan.

"The cat is very friendly," Ryan said. "She's somebody's cat. She's not a feral cat. This cat is very used to human affection."

The cat, caramel colored with olive green eyes, got a scratch across her nose, Ryan said. The cat is less than a year old, she said.

Two neighborhood children, ages 10 and 14, were fishing across from Beall's property, and when they came to show him what they caught, they noticed the barrel with the cat's paw hanging onto the rim. They went home and called authorities.

"We responded in time for this kitty cat," Ryan said. "Thank goodness."

Beall said he intended to drown the cat, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

"He was going to drown it and decided he couldn't do it," she said.

Animal control officers inspected the property and found an animal carcass in the barrel. The decomposed remains could not immediately be identified. It might have been an opossum, she said.

"We found other things, and we are continuing to investigate," Ryan said. "We're not ready to talk about this yet. We found what might be described as burn pits. What they were burning -- I think that is in question."

The cat will be kept in the shelter on Falkenburg Road for five days to see whether the owner shows up, she said. From there, it will undergo adoption evaluation.