Man accused of animal cruelty for stealing ex-girlfriend's cats resulting in death of 1

Animal cruelty for man accused of stealing ex's cats

A man is accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend's cats, resulting in the death of one of them in Mesa. He is facing felony charges. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas has the story.

MESA, Ariz. - A weeks-long investigation led to the arrest of a Mesa man after police say he stole his then girlfriend's cats and left one of them to die.

Police arrested the suspect for violating an order of protection and this isn't the first time the suspect has been arrested. Mesa Police arrested him while he was on probation for aggravated assault.

On July 8, Mesa police got a call from a woman saying her then boyfriend stole her two cats and told her he was going to make them suffer.

Zeus and Persephone were allegedly kidnapped and brought to a Uhaul storage facility in an act of revenge by an ex-boyfriend because his then girlfriend would not answer her phone.

Suspect violated order of protection four times in 24 hours

Then, on July 10, 48-year-old Jay Campbell was served an order of protection, but court records show he violated it four times in 24 hours. Police witnessed the last time.

"When they were waiting, he actually did pull up and walked up to the apartment. So the officers were able to witness him violating the order right then and there," said Richard Encinas with the Mesa Police.

Campbell admitted taking his then-girlfriend's two cats to his U-Haul storage unit.

Zeus and Persephone

Days before that, Campbell told the U-Haul assistant manager a different story.

"I asked the gentleman if he had any cats," Armando Serna, assistant manager of the U-Haul said. "We go and look at the unit. There were no cats in there, no sign of any cats."

Serna asked Campbell because the victim called U-Haul in distress, wanting to find her cats.

Image 1 of 2

▼

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office mugshot of Jay Campbell.

On July 11, a cat was found hiding underneath a storage unit.

"They were having trouble getting the cats out because it's a small tight spot. We had the fire truck over here, we had the police officers here," Serna said.

Once they got hold of the cat named Zeus, they noticed he was in critical condition with burned paws.

Zeus the cat was found with injured paws at a storage facility in Mesa.

"We were able to put him into the ICU. They were able to give him fluids. About 30 minutes after the officer left, we found the deceased body of Persephone," Aly Zacovic, the cat rescuer who treated Zues said.

Zeus is now safe, back home with his owner.

Campbell faces several charges. He remains in jail tonight on a $12,000 bond.