Pennsylvania animal cruelty: Cops say man skinned live cat

😺 A Bristol man was staying at a home in Lancaster County

😺 He called police reporting a "wild animal" in the house

😺 Officers instead found a severely injured house cat

A Bristol man is charged with cruelty to animals after officials say he removed a cat's skin.

Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said Richard Swangler, 56, called police on Sunday to report a wild animal, possibly a jaguar, inside a house on Broad Street in West Hempfield Township.

Swangler had scratch and bite marks on his arms but there was no wild animal found inside the house.

Officers instead found a small black cat with facial injuries, including a "a traumatic complete degloving of the lower chin/mandible," according to Adams. The cat was taken to an emergency pet care facility where the cat underwent surgery. It is expected to fully recover.

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Charge of aggravated cruelty to animals

Adams did not disclose why Swangler was staying in the home, who else lived in the home and who owned the cat.

Swangler was charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals and taken into custody on an outstanding probation violation warrant.

He is being held at the Lancaster County Prison on $15,000 bail.

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