Trio charged in North Carolina after 'Kitty' found mutilated

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Police in Asheville are searching for a third suspect in the mutilation of a family cat.

News outlets reported Monday that 26-year-old Shariah Jessamyn Metzger and 29-year-old Jace Lee Greene have been arrested on charges of improper burial of an animal. Asheville police are searching for Zackery Eugene Greene on the same charge.

[#National Cat Day: The most popular cat names of 2018]

Officers were alerted to social media images showing the dead cat strung up and sliced open, posed with needles in its body and drugs in its mouth.

A Brother Wolf Animal Rescue spokeswoman, Andee Bingham, says the cat was microchipped.

Owner Aaron Nastor told the local ABC affiliate WLOS that Kitty was their sweet family cat, and crimes like this are not what Asheville is about.

It's unclear if the suspects have lawyers.

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Associated Press