SPARTANBURG Co., S.C. (WSPA) — A man is accused of putting a live kitten in a trash bag recovered at a Spartanburg County recycling center.
John Carrol Majors, 63, of Spartanburg, is charged with ill treatment of animals and animal abandonment.
Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement said in a news release that officers responded to a report of possible animal cruelty on June 17 at the recycling center on Cowpens Clifton Road.
Several witnesses reportedly told officers they heard kittens inside a trash bag that a man, identified as Majors, threw into the trash compactor.
Majors told officers he thought the kitten was a dead mouse and also admitted to putting a dead squirrel in the same trash bag, according to the release.
Officers climbed into the hopper and retrieved the bag from inside the trash compactor. The department said officers found a live kitten inside the bag. The kitten, determined to be less than 24 hours old, was missing a leg. No other animal was found inside the bag.
“Unfortunately due to overall poor health of the kitten, it had to be euthanized,” Environmental Enforcement said in a news release.
Jail records show Majors was arrested Friday and released later that day on charges of ill treatment of animals and animal abandonment.
