Actor in Custody After the Death of His Girlfriend's Cat

An actor who has appeared in "Sex and the City" has been arrested and charged in the death of his girlfriend's cat in Manhattan, authorities with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

In a fit of anger because his "female acquaintance paid too much attention to the cat," Joseph Petcka, 36, entered her apartment when she was at work and beat the 9-year-old domestic longhair to death, a spokesman for the ASPCA, Joseph Pentangelo said. The cat's name was Norman.

Mr. Petcka was charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a felony that carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. Judge Eileen Koretz set bail last night at $2,500, though the prosecutor requested it be set at $20,000. An order of protection was granted for the girlfriend.

"Because the press is involved, the judge set up ridiculous bail," Mr. Petcka's attorney, Charles Hochbaum, said as he left the courthouse. "I've walked people out who killed people on less bail than this."

Mr. Petcka had small roles on "Sex and the City" and the 2000 film "What Women Want," which starred Mel Gibson. Three neighbors of Mr. Petcka yesterday said that he is slated to play a young Tony Soprano in an upcoming episode of "The Sopranos." An HBO spokeswoman, Nancy Lesser, said she could not confirm this last night.

In the 1990s, Mr. Petcka played minor league baseball with the Mets before traveling to play in Europe. He had just started a job as a bartender at Central Kitchen in the West Village earlier this week, a manager, who would identify himself only as Chris, said. He was arrested near his place of work on Wednesday evening.

The alleged crime took place on March 27, Mr. Pentangelo said. On the night of the 26th, Mr. Petcka drank alcohol and got into a fight with his girlfriend, who wasn't identified by the ASPCA. The next day he entered her apartment in downtown Manhattan and attacked the cat, Mr. Pentangelo said. When the woman returned home, she found the cat dead under her nightstand and took him to the Battery Park Animal Hospital, where a veterinarian referred the case to the ASPCA.

A necropsy determined that the cat died from multiple blows and likely was "in extreme pain" for up to an estimated 15 minutes, Mr. Pentangelo said. Norman, who weighed less than 8 pounds, suffered a broken leg, three broken ribs, broken teeth, and a lacerated tongue, and blood was found in his stomach and chest, he said.

The NYPD said that Mr. Petcka has a previous arrest for a domestic assault more than four years ago. Just after midnight on September 28, 2002, he allegedly grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and threw her out of his apartment, before slamming the door on her finger, police said. A neighbor of Mr. Petcka's at 144 Spencer St. in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn said the woman had to have her finger re-attached.

"All too often, people direct violence toward pets as a way to hurt the people who cherish them," Mr. Pentangelo said. Officials from the ASPCA have said in the past that they find that people who abuse animals have wider criminal tendencies.

This is the sixth aggravated cruelty to an animal case the ASPCA has handled this year. Last year, there were 17 cases. Since New York passed a law in 1999 that makes some instances of animal abuse a felony, more of the ASPCA's arrests have been ending with significant sentences, Mr. Pentangelo said.

One man was given a sentence of eight months in jail for beating a cat to death and throwing the body into a construction site, Mr. Pentangelo said.

The New York Sun reported in January that the ASPCA had last year increased the number of arrests by more than 400% compared with 1999.