A South Austin man was holding a cat underwater and admitted things “went too far” after the cat died Saturday, according to an Austin police arrest affidavit.
Police received a call for a welfare check at 7:03 a.m. on Johnathan Wong, 28, whose girlfriend said he was feeling suicidal, the affidavit stated. Wong had admitted to harming one of his girlfriend’s cats the night before, according to the affidavit.
Wong told police he put the cat, which was 6 months to a year old, in a plastic container and submerged the container in the bathtub, filling the container with water, the police affidavit states. Wong said he left a little bit of air at the top of container and thought the cat could breathe, but he could tell the cat was struggling, the affidavit states. When the cat stopped struggling, Wong took the cat out of the water, it says.
Wong told police he had performed the same act to his girlfriend’s cats three times before, twice before to the cat that eventually drowned. Police charged Wong with cruelty to a non-livestock animal, a third-degree felony.