Lewy, a former resident in the cat section of the Humane Society of NW Montana, was adopted by a family in Eureka and things were looking great for the 6-year-old cat. In spite of their best efforts to find Lewy a forever home, events unfolded that has left the community stunned.
The family lives in Eureka and Lewy was getting a lot of love from the woman and her daughter living there, and her boyfriend, identified by Lincoln County prosecutors as 28-year-old Paris Anthony Sjostrand. Prosecutors say he became jealous of the attention Lewy was getting and in the middle of the night of May 16th, Sjostrand severely beat the cat and poured bathroom chemicals all over the defenseless animal.
Lewy was taken to Dr. Calhoun at the Mountain View Veterinarian Clinic in Eureka, who found the cat had skull fractures and a brain trauma with the skin detached from his jaw. She did what she could, stabilizing Lewy and sending him to Dr Jim Thompson at the Whitefish Animal Hospital, who did reconstructive surgery.
Lewy then returned to the NW MT Humane Society’s facility on Hwy 93 North, where Mia Malone reports Lewy has been adopted by the Vet Tech at the Mountain View Veterinarian Clinic.
As for Sjostrand, he was arrested and arraigned before Lincoln County District Judge Matt Cuffe. He pleaded not-guilty of Animal Cruelty and was released on $10,000 bail. He’s due back in Judge Cuffe’s court on July 7th.
