MOORHEAD-A Moorhead man is charged in Clay County District Court with mistreating animals after admitting to Moorhead police he was fearful of cats and may have killed three of them while he was blacked out.

Jalan Isaac Greer, 23, faces three counts of mistreating or torturing animals.

According to a court complaint containing the charges:

Moorhead police were called to Greer's south Moorhead apartment on Jan. 19 on a report that a cat could be heard crying and making sounds like it "was fighting for its life."

As Greer let officers into his apartment to check on the welfare of his cat, he stated to the officers that the cat was just fine.

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The officers, however, observed a dead cat on the floor with blood coming from its mouth and ears.

Greer attempted to clean up the blood from around the animal's head as he spoke to the officers, stating that he brought the cat home and it suddenly died.

He said the black and white cat's name was Oreo.

Police then spoke to a neighbor who said he had heard what sounded like a cat screaming on about three or five other occasions.

When officers returned to Greer's apartment, he maintained he did not have cats in his apartment on earlier occasions, but he changed his story when confronted by information provided by the neighbor, the court complaint said.

Greer spoke to investigators again on Jan. 21. At that time, he told police he may have squeezed Oreo harder than he should have. He also spontaneously stated that he was not into "zoosadism," which he explained was someone who enjoyed harming, killing or having sex with animals, the complaint said.

Greer then told police he had a cat in his apartment about three weeks prior that died when it stuck its claws into an outlet and electrocuted itself. He did not identify the animal by name, but described it as a white cat.

Police later spoke to a female who said she gave Oreo to Greer around Jan. 20 and at that time the cat was healthy.

She said Greer was supposed to give her $20 for the cat, but never did. She also said he told her a neighbor killed Oreo.

The witness showed police a website where a number of people indicated they gave cats to Greer.

Police spoke to another witness who said she gave Greer a cat named Smokey for Christmas. She said Greer later told her Smokey died, possibly from a towel rod falling on the cat.

The witness told police Greer sent her a photo of Smokey lying on a bathroom floor with a small towel rod across its chest. Greer also sent her a photo showing the cat's face with blood coming out of its mouth and nose area, the complaint said.

On Feb. 13, Greer told police the white cat he claimed had died by putting its claws into an electrical outlet had actually died while he was petting it.

Greer said he was petting the cat around the neck area when the cat went limp and died. He later stated he may have been hanging onto the cat's neck too tightly.

When an officer asked Greer why he had killed three cats, Greer stated he was fearful of cats hurting him and he had probably blacked out and killed them.

Greer appeared in court Friday, March 3. Conditions of release were set at $5,000 bond with conditions, $10,000 bond without conditions.