Mount Sinai man charged after shooting cats with pellet gun, cops say

A Mount Sinai man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after, police said, he shot his neighbor’s three cats with a pellet gun.

Clifford Nagel, 72, shot his neighbor’s cats in September and again this month, officials said, causing one of them to be euthanized. He was arrested Thursday by Suffolk police and the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, officials said.

Nagel was charged with three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony under state law, police said.

Police said Nagel’s neighbor in early September noticed one of his cats walking with a limp. A veterinarian then determined the cat was shot with a pellet gun and determined it had to be euthanized, police said. The same neighbor called police Thursday after he noticed two of his other cats were limping and a veterinarian determined those cats had also been shot. The felines are being treated for their injuries, police said.

Police determined Nagel shot the cats. They did not specify what evidence led to that determination.

Nagel was issued a desk appearance ticket and is scheduled to be arraigned at a later date, police said.