California man accused of cooking and eating cats

Bakersfield - A bizarre case has shocked police in California, who were called to the home of an Oildale man accused of cooking and eating cats.

Jason Louis Wilmert, 35, was taken into custody and charged with one count of cruelty to animals, and one charge of using animals commonly kept as pets, as food. According to Emirates 247 Sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt said he had "never seen anything like this" as the evidence pointed to Wilmert eating the cats for food. Bakersfield Now reported that Wilmerts neighbors were alerted by the sound of screeching cats at Wilmert's home. Neighbor Joe Nuno described how a female neighbor saw Wilmer "holding a tail, skinning it. It is still alive." Wilmert then reportedly cooked the skinned cat on a fire in his backyard, releasing a smell Nuno described as "awful meat." In a separate report Bakersfield Now quoted Deputy District Attorney Michael Yraceburn, who said of the case "I don't believe I've ever seen one like this before." He confirmed that a 1989 law prohibits the eating of pets. According to Yraceburn there are no reports of missing pets and it appears Wilmert was catching wild cats and using them as food. The allegations that he was caught skinning the cats alive prior to cooking them adds to the shocking nature of the charges.