Wal-Mart fires three managers in cat death
By MARK WILSON Courier & Press staff writer 464-7417 or
[email protected]
December 31, 2004
Three management personnel at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Evansville's East Side were fired Thursday in connection with a cat shot to death on company property.
Company spokeswoman Sharon Weber said the three were fired after Wal-Mart did its own investigation into the incident. She said company policy was not to release names.
Vanderburgh County sheriff's deputies arrested two store managers Tuesday night, Jeffrey A. Hardin, 21, and Christopher S. Anderson, 29. Each is facing a felony charge of animal cruelty/torture. The two appeared in court on Wednesday and were released on their own recognizance. They are scheduled to appear in Superior Court at 9 a.m. Jan. 4.
Hardin and Anderson were directed to "get rid" of the cat, according to a police affidavit. Darrel Weitzel, head store manager at the East Side Wal-Mart, told police the staff for several days had tried "everything" to get rid of the cat but nothing worked.
Weitzel said he told some employees to "just get rid of it, get a gun, and get rid of it," the police report said. Although Weitzel said he was aware of what the employees had done, he did not directly advise them to take the actions they did.
The air rifle used in the shooting and a container of pellets were taken from the Wal-Mart manager's office and placed in evidence at the Sheriff's Command Post.
In a statement to police, Hardin implicated Anderson in the shooting. He said on Dec. 27 he became aware that Anderson had shot the cat in a grocery stock trailer, but the animal did not die.
Hardin said Anderson told him to get a specific air rifle from the sales floor and bring it to the trailer. He met Anderson and another employee at the trailer and they began searching for the animal with a flashlight. The cat was shot three more times before it was killed, Hardin said.
The cat's body was wrapped in plastic and put in a box. Hardin said Anderson took the box and placed it in his truck and left with it at the end of his shift at Wal-Mart.
A deputy, accompanied by an animal control officer, questioned Anderson about the incident. Anderson said he left the animal carcass at his mother-in-law's home in Warrick County.
Anderson later said he did shoot the cat and expected he would be fired for doing what he had been told to do. He also said it was Hardin who actually killed the animal.
