Woman arrested for pepper spraying a cat

A woman was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty after she allegedly pepper sprayed a cat inside a Dayton apartment Sunday.

Police were called to the 400 block of Winters Street around 7 p.m. on reports of a woman damaging the inside of an apartment, according to a Dayton police incident report.

First officers on the scene found a man yelling for his cat Diamond claiming a woman, later identified as Ashley Matthews, 28, had used pepper spray on the animal.

"The cat was whining and crying loudly. It stopped in an alley way, sat back on its haunches and began wildly pawing at its face," the officer said in the report.

The officer was able find and pick up Diamond and held it "like a small child" to check on the animal.

"I immediately recognized the distinguishable odor of (pepper spray), due to repeated exposures throughout my career," the officer said.

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Diamond jumped from the officer's arms and ran away, running a few feet, pawing at its eyes and hissing, the report states. The officer was not able to locate or help the cat, and it was not known if Diamond was later reunited with his owner.

During their investigation, officers located a small, keychain-style can of pepper spray that the man said Matthews used to spray Diamond.

Matthews was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals and was booked into the Montgomery County Jail.