Wednesday, October 28, 1998.....An 11-year-old Cleveland, OH boy was arrested Sunday for killing a cat and most of her kittens with bricks and critically injuring two others in the litter--one of which did not survive.
    The boy told police he did it because "there was nothing else to do," according to Sgt. Mark Hastings, a Cleveland police spokesman. Of the kittens found alive, one died shortly after being taken to emergency care and the second was seriously injured said Dr. Craig Talbott of the Animal Emergency Clinic on W. 140th Street.
     The surviving kitten underwent surgery yesterday and was listed in stable condition last night, Talbott said.
     Residents of the West Side neighborhood where the attack took place told police that someone in the neighborhood has been killing cats and kittens for three weeks.
     Around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, police received a call that a boy was throwing bricks at kittens in the 1300 block of 83rd Street. When police arrived, they found the two injured kittens and took them to a veterinarian.
     Police said neighbors who saw the boy allegedly throwing bricks at the kittens told officers where he lived. The boy was taken into custody yesterday and charged with cruelty to animals. He was released to his parents pending further action in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.
     After a story about the incident aired on WJW Channel 8, viewers donated more than $2,000 to pay for the surviving kitten's care, a station spokesman said. Other calls went directly to the animal clinic, which was unable to provide a total pledged last night. Talbott, who is also Cuyahoga County veterinarian, said the cost of the surgery would be between $1,800 and $2,000 and that the money donated to Channel 8 probably would be enough to pay for the surgery.
     He said that people who made pledges to the clinic with credit cards will have most of their money refunded. Cash donations to the clinic will be kept for use in other emergency cases, he said.
     Talbott said last night that the kitten had bruised lungs and a diaphragmatic hernia. He said he had to put the stomach and intestines back in their proper position and rebuild the diaphragm.
     WJW-Fox 8 News interviewed the boy's mother on her front steps yesterday. In a nearly incoherent manner indicated that she didn't know how he could do something like that, and that she wanted him to write about an animal--a dog or cat--and then write how he could do such a thing "from his own self," she said. That was the extent of the interview. Neither the name of the boy or his family is being released at this time.