Kitten Held Hostage in St. Charles, IL, Self-Storage Unit

A Chicago man was ticketed for animal cruelty last week after he allegedly locked his ex-girlfriend’s kitten in a bin and left the container inside a self-storage unit at a Public Storage Inc. facility in St. Charles, Ill. Investigators said Perry D. Weingart, 58, told the woman in a text message that if she wanted the kitten it was at the storage facility, according to the source.

After the woman called police, an officer reportedly met her at the facility on East Main Street. It’s not clear from the news report if she had a key to the unit, but the woman and officer gained access and found a storage bin “with a fogged interior” after moving several items. The kitten was inside the container along with a small bag of dry cat food and an empty bowl. The bottom of the container was wet from water, the source reported.

The container had no air holes, and its lid was securely snapped in place, according to the police report. In addition, 10 to 15 pounds of items had been stacked on top of the bin. “The kitten was in a frantic state,” the police reported.

According to police, Weingart said he put the kitten in the storage unit on the morning of Nov. 3, the day it was rescued. Investigators didn’t say how long it took to recover the animal, the source reported.

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