LANSING, N.Y. — A 24-year-old Lansing man is facing a felony animal cruelty charge after allegedly killing a woman’s pet rabbit by microwaving it.
New York State Police in Ithaca charged Seth C. Decker, 24, of Lansing, with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony.
At about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on Lockerby Hill Road in Lansing, Decker allegedly called a woman he knew and blamed her for stealing a key from him. He then told her he put her pet rabbit in the microwave and asked if she could hear it jumping in the microwave, a felony complaint states. Another person at the residence observed Decker put the rabbit in the microwave and turn it on, police said. Decker allegedly threatened the other person at the residence, stating, “You are next, I’ll slit your throat,” court records state. The woman’s father later found the rabbit dead in the microwave. State police also saw the rabbit when they arrived on scene.
State police in Auburn located Decker on Thursday in Locke. He was arraigned in the Town of Lansing Court and remanded to the Tompkins County Jail on $2,000 cash bail or $4,000 property bond.
He is due to return to court Wednesday in the Town of Lansing Court for a felony preliminary hearing.