A Utah mother is facing child abuse and animal torture charges after prosecutors said she beat a pet cat and broke its neck in front of her son and daughter.
The Deseret News reported that Ariane Borg, 38, of Holladay, was arrested Saturday in connection with the incident, which occurred last fall.
According to court documents, officers who responded to Borg's home Sept. 25 found a 16-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl "crying hysterically," KTVX reported. They said Borg had repeatedly beaten their cat on a table before breaking its neck and throwing its body into the yard, documents said. Borg also bruised her daughter's arm when the girl tried to intervene, according to the documents.
Police later found Borg suffering from "self-inflicted stab wounds," the Deseret News reported.
In a statement to KUTV, Borg's attorney, Steve Burton, said his client is mentally ill and has gone "through months of intensive treatment."
"It has been devastating for Ariane to see that after four months of stability, hard work, and dedication to treatment and self-improvement, she was criminally charged, without notice, was forcibly arrested late at night by a team of U.S. Marshals, was taken to jail without her medications and with very little clothing, and was kept in a holding cell without proper medical care or the ability to contact her doctors or lawyer," the statement read.
"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."
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