A 21-year-old London man is charged with uttering death threats to people and his cat.

A long and strange incident began about 3 p.m. Wednesday when a London Humane Society officer went to a residence on Wharncliffe Road North to investigate animal cruelty.

The officer discovered a cat had an injury to its head, London police said.

“The resident became upset with the London Humane Society and threatened to kill his cat as well as the officer,” London police say in a news release.

The Humane Society officer removed the cat and contacted police.

Police arrived about 4 p.m.

From inside the apartment, the resident repeatedly fired an air gun pistol at the inside of his door, so the emergency response unit was called, police said.

About 6 p.m., a resident in a neighbouring apartment building was sitting on his porch when the resident fired the pistol in his direction.

About 9:15 p.m,, police entered the resident’s apartment unit and arrested him without incident.

The London man is charged with uttering threats of death or bodily harm, uttering threats to animals or birds, killing or injuring animals or birds, possession of a weapon, assault with a weapon, and discharging an air gun with intent to wound.

He was to appear in court Thursday.

The cat, meanwhile, was taken to the Humane Society for treatment.