MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Butler County sheriff's deputies are searching for a man they say burned a cat alive using lighter fluid.

Sheriff Richard Jones says a warrant for cruelty to animals, a fifth-degree felony, has been issued for Kevin L. Sullivan, 32, of Middletown.

The incident occurred on Sept. 19. The cat was so badly injured that an officer with the Middletown Police Department shot it to put it out of its misery, Jones says.

Jones does not say how officials were notified about the cat being harmed, but says Sullivan initially lied about his involvement.

"This is absolutely disturbing and this guy definitely needs to be off the streets," Jones says in a news release. "I don't understand people who harm or torture a defenseless animal, it is a very cowardly thing to do."

Butler County is located just north of Cincinnati.

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