Local News in Brief : Husband Accused of Torturing Wife’s Cats

A Studio City man was arrested on suspicion of cruelty to animals after putting razor blades into the mouth of one of his wife’s cats and throwing it out a kitchen window during a domestic dispute, police said Tuesday.

Shimon Genish, 30, was arrested when police saw him step out of the couple’s hillside house after the Monday morning incident with blood on his hands and shirt, said Lt. Robert Pena of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation.

Genish denied harming the animals, Officer Sam Lopez said.

His wife, Michelle, 33, who had called police, told officers her husband cut the animal’s mouth and threw it out the window, where it fell about 20 to 30 feet, because he was jealous of her three Siamese cats, Pena said.

The wife told police that after she retrieved the bleeding cat from the lawn, her husband took it from her, twisted its neck and tossed it onto the roof of the house, Pena said.

Police found the seriously injured cat on the roof, Pena said, and it had to be destroyed.

A second cat later was found with a rubber band wrapped behind its head and into its mouth, which was bleeding, he said. That cat is expected to live and was being treated by a local veterinarian, he said.

Genish was released after posting $10,000 bail, police said. He is scheduled to appear in San Fernando Municipal Court on June 1.