Why anyone would ever throw an animal—let alone a person—out of a window, we'll never understand. But we're thankful that this story doesn't have a soul-crushing ending: a one pound, five-week-old kitten named Precious who was thrown out a third story window in Westchester survived the fall.
According to Westchester SPCA, the cat’s owner was having a dispute with her ex-boyfriend, who threw Precious out the window. The cat apparently landed on all fours and had no broken bones, but did suffer an injury to its jaw. “When I initially got this call, I was expecting a cat that was going to have severe injuries,” SPCA enforcement director Ernest Lungaro told 1010 WINS. “Three stories up is quite a distance for a cat to fall and survive.”
A warrant has been issued for the suspect, identified as Craig Morejon, alleging assault and animal abuse. The ASPCA sent out an alert today urging all pet owners, especially those who live in multi-story buildings, to place screens in their windows to prevent their pets from falling out—incidents commonly referred to as “high-rise syndrome.”
“Cats who never leave their residence may not realize how high up they are, and if they are distracted by what’s going on outside, they can jump out of the window, or lose their balance and fall,” said Dr. Louise Murray, vice president of the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. It's important to remember: not ALL cats know parkour.
