SALT LAKE CITY UTAH (WSVN) — A Utah mother has been arrested after she was accused of beating the family cat and then snapping the animal’s neck right in front of her children.
According to court documents obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune, police responded to the home of 38-year-old Ariane Christine Borg, where officers found her 17-year-old son and her 10-year-old daughter “crying hysterically.”
The children said their mother had beat their cat over and over again and snapped its neck. The daughter told police Borg picked the cat up by its legs and slammed it against the table.
When the girl tried to rescue the animal, she said, Borg hit her on the arm.
Officers found the dead cat in the yard and they found Borg covered in blood from self-inflicted stab wounds on her abdomen and wrists, the newspaper reports.
Borg’s attorney, Steven Burton, said she has spent her life battling with depression and her health deteriorated in July when her medications were adjusted.
He also said police came to her home a week before the incident and Borg sought help, but “no meaningful help was provided.”
Burton said Borg has been responding positively to treatments since October.
“It is disappointing to see that after all we have learned about mental illness, our system still re-victimizes those who are struggling, and increases the risk that they will suffer further setbacks,” he said.
Borg is now facing child abuse and animal torture charges.