Instead, 21-year-old Leo Antony Nopoulos was sentenced to probation after authorities say he tortured the animal for hours.
Video from last October captured Nopoulos throwing, punching and kicking the kitten for three hours. The abuse left the animal nearly blind in one eye.
According to police complaints, Nopoulos threw the cat against the ceiling, punched and kicked the cat, and hit the cat with a can of air freshener and a remote control.
Authorities called it a "horrific" case of animal torture.
Tom Colvin, the executive director of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, says two years of probation is not enough. He wants Nopoulos to go to prison.
“We see the studies that basically connect someone that has the capability to do this to an animal, what can they do to people?” Colvin said.
Colvin said he has been working to draft a bill that would toughen animal cruelty and animal torture laws in Iowa. He plans to introduce it in the 2016 legislative session.
(KCCI - Jul 28, 2015)
