A North Sioux City police officer is facing criminal charges after he allegedly shot stray cats instead of taking them to the humane society.

Officer Derek McIntosh, 34, has been charged with injuring or killing an animal belonging to another, a class 1 misdemeanor, according to a criminal complaint filed in Union County.

McIntosh is "no longer employed with the city," according to North Sioux City administrator Ted Cherry, although he would not say whether McIntosh was fired or resigned.

"Our police department has finished the investigation into the situation with the cats and we've turned all of it over to the Union County State's Attorney," Cherry said.

The police department began investigating McIntosh on May 9 after other police officers reported that he had picked up stray cats and shot them in the cemetery.

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Police found the bodies of two dead cats in the city cemetery, along with rubber medical gloves matching those used by the police department, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

On May 8, North Sioux City Police Chief Richard Headid filed a report saying McIntosh told him he was investigating a stolen animal trap on Alcoma Drive. During the investigation, a resident asked McIntosh about his missing black-and-white cat, to which McIntosh replied that officers sometimes moved stray cats to the cemetery, according to the affidavit.

The next day, police Capt. Dustin Sharkey was heading to the same address to pick up a cat that was caught in a trap when another officer, Stephanie Ryan, told him that he "saved that cat's life," according to the affidavit. When asked what she meant, Ryan told Sharkey she had heard that McIntosh took trapped cats out to the cemetery to shoot them.

Later, another officer said he had discussed the cat situation on Alcoma Drive with McIntosh, who said he'd told the resident he released the cat to the cemetery, according to the affidavit. When the officer told McIntosh, "At least you didn't shoot it," McIntosh allegedly responded that he actually had killed the cat.

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McIntosh met with both Chief Headid and City Administrator Cherry, during which he said he "routinely released cats at the cemetery," according to the affidavit. When asked whether he shot the cat, McIntosh allegedly denied it, but said he'd shot other cats in the past.

When Cherry told McIntosh he was going to be placed on administrative leave while the department investigated the shootings, McIntosh then allegedly admitted to shooting the cat on Alcoma Drive.

City ordinance says that officers are supposed to turn over stray animals to the local humane society, Cherry said, but South Dakota law does give officers leeway in deciding how to deal with rabid or injured animals.