Jicarilla officer charged in decapitation of kitten

BLOOMFIELD — A Jicarilla Apache Game and Fish officer has been arrested after allegedly decapitating a 9-week-old gray kitten at his residence in Bloomfield.

Joseph Weaver, 40, faces a fourth-degree felony charge of extreme cruelty to animals. He was off duty at the time.

According to a news release from the Bloomfield Police Department, officers were dispatched on the evening of Jan. 10 to a home in the 1700 block of Mountain View Circle for a welfare check. When officers arrived, they found Weaver’s family distraught about their kitten.

His wife told police officers he called her into the bedroom while she was preparing dinner. The release states she found her husband standing with a pocketknife in his hand. The kitten was found floating in the bathroom sink with its head severed from its body.

Officers found the decapitated kitten wrapped in a towel and also discovered a bloody pocketknife and blood on the bathroom wall.

Weaver had his first appearance on Jan. 11 in Aztec Magistrate Court. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 21. A county jail document indicates he was released from custody.