PHIPPSBURG — A 51 year old woman was arrested by Phippsburg police on July 4 and charged with throwing two kittens into the water at Center Pond.
Justine Lovig, of Phippsburg, was charged with cruelty to animals, operating under the influence and violating conditions of release.
Police responded to a report at Parker Head Road at 1:17 p.m. that a woman was throwing two kittens into the water at the public swimming hole, Phippsburg Police Chief John Skroski said.
Skroski said there were about 10 people at Center Pond when the incident happened.
When he arrived, Officer Zach Thomas saw Lovig come out of the water with two kittens, which were shaking, and take them to a car. She put the kittens in a shirt and, “she was feeding them an egg salad sandwich,” Skroski said.
One witness told police the woman took leashes off the cats and threw them from the access stairs into the water. She then put them back on leashes and dragged them across the hot pavement to the car.
Witnesses reported that the kittens were thrown into the water multiple times, one by the tail.
Two kittens that were reported to have been thrown into the water in Phippsburg have been placed in a foster home by the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick.
Thomas said Lovig “admitted to submerging the kittens,” he wrote in an affidavit. “We walked back to her car and she fed the kittens (a) sandwich. They were eating the sandwich very quickly.”
Lovig failed a field sobriety test.
As a condition of release, Lovig can’t posses domestic animals, must stay away from the Center Pond dam, and can’t use or possess alcohol. She was arraigned July 6 and remained in Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset as of Tuesday morning. She is scheduled to appear in West Bath District Court on July 18 for a dispositional hearing on a motion to revoke her bail. Skroski said she will answer to the July 4 charges in court Sept. 11.
The kittens were taken by Phippsburg’s animal control officer to Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick. The kittens are at one of its foster homes, according to a statement the organization released Tuesday.
“Our foster reports the kittens appear to be doing well, and that when Ms. Lovig’s case is closed, that the kittens may have already found their forever home,” the statement adds. “While the case is ongoing, we are not able to comment further. We thank everyone for their understanding, and for all the warm wishes expressed by so many for these innocent and defenseless kittens.”
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