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Article Archive > Cat Torturer Predator Busted Cat Torturer Predator Busted Anthony Appolonia may have seemed like a nice guy who just wanted to give kittens a good home, but authorities said he was a predator who tortured and killed at least 14 cats before he was arrested on animal cruelty charges Friday. The investigation is still unfolding, according to the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The agency's chief investigator said he expects additional charges against Appolonia and has not ruled out the possibility that other people may be involved in a systematic torture and killing of animals. Appolonia, 48, confessed to killing 14 cats and kittens, and claimed that another eight animals authorities traced to him had gotten away, said Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief of police for the Monmouth County SPCA. He termed it "the worst case of purposeful animal cruelty I have seen" in a 25-year law enforcement career, five of them with the SPCA. "He's confessed to 14 cats that he tortured and killed," Amato said. "But I suspect he's killed many, many more. This isn't something he just woke up and started doing the other day." Amato said Appolonia would acquire the cats by answering newspaper advertisements in which people offered the animals to someone willing to provide a good home. During the last nine weeks, Amato said, it is certain that he acquired at least 22 cats and kittens, although it is possible that number could be higher. The SPCA has interviewed roughly 20 people who dealt with Appolonia, he said. Amato said the killings happened over the last nine weeks in Appolonia's quiet, first-floor apartment in the Ken Gardens Apartments in Aberdeen. He lived alone and led a quiet life, neighbors told police, yet there were some disturbing signs. A neighbor told Amato he had once watched Appolonia spray a cat that had an obvious broken paw with a water hose. "When the neighbor asked what he was doing, he said he was trying to calm the cat down," Amato said. "You don't calm a cat down with water." But if the allegations are true, that torment was the least the cats received. In what police termed a chilling videotaped statement, Appolonia told Amato he would play with the kittens for a while, and then something would happen, Amato said. The cat would hiss at him, maybe scratch him. At that point, Appolonia would "throw the cat, beat, punch and break its bones. He would let it live for a little while, in some cases a day, in tremendous pain, and then drown it," Amato said. Kittens would be drowned in the toilet bowl, larger cats in the bathtub, he said. The case came to light when John P. Casale of Matawan became suspicious. Casale said he tries to find good homes for cats and had scheduled a meeting with Appolonia, who had contacted him after Casale had placed an ad looking for someone to take cats. "He never kept the appointment," Casale said. "But a woman told me she had given him a cat and was worried about it." Casale said he went to Appolonia's apartment. "There was a litter pan and cat food, but no cat," he said. "He told me he hadn't been able to get a cat and I knew he was lying. I had already spoke to a woman who said she gave him a cat. The hairs on the back of my neck just went up." Casale went to the SPCA. When he first confronted Appolonia, Amato said he was told by Appolonia that the cats had been given away. "He gave me the names of about 20 people he said he had given cats to. I guess he figured I wouldn't check. Not one of them had received a cat from him. Some people hadn't seen him in a year," he said. When confronted with the results of his investigation, Amato said Appolonia "put his head in his hands and just said, "OK, you're right. I killed them all.' " The animal cruelty charges that Appolonia faces are fourth-degree crimes, the lowest level of indictable crime in New Jersey, Amato said. Those crimes carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. His admissions that the acts were purposeful will probably raise it a notch, to a third-degree crime, he said. A third-degree crime has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. For Ursula Goetz, the executive director of the Monmouth County SPCA, the alleged crimes are symptomatic of the cruelty many animals face. "He really committed a heinous crime," she said. "What he did to these animals was unspeakable. What he did to the people he got these cats from was also cruel. They wanted a good home for these animals. He convinced them he was that good home." Casale said he has spoken with several of the people who gave cats or kittens to Appolonia. "They're devastated," he said. "It's heartbreaking. I'm distraught myself. These animals can't speak for themselves. They can't call for help. I just don't want to talk about it anymore." Appolonia was taken to the Monmouth County Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $105,000 bail, officials said.
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