SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WOWO): A South Bend man has been arrested, in connection to the deaths of 10 cats, found in an alley near his home in March of last year.

30 year-old Ares Lee Howard is charged with three counts of killing a domestic animal and eight counts of mutilating a vertebrae animal.  T

he bodies of 10 cats and several squirrels, rabbits and what may have been an possum were found in an alleyway near East Indiana Avenue. 

A neighbor told police that two of the cats belonged to her and had been missing since Valentine’s Day. Another resident said one of the cats belonged to her. 

Animal autopsies showed eight of the cats had small pellets or .22 caliber bullets in their bodies.