Police: Man used pot to mellow kitty

LINCOLN, N.Y., March 3 (UPI) -- Police in Nebraska said a man was arrested after he allegedly stuffed his kitten into a homemade marijuana pipe to calm her down.

Acea Schomaker, 20, was cited on suspicion misdemeanor animal cruelty and charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia after Lancaster County sheriff's deputies allegedly caught him smoking marijuana from the homemade contraption with his cat, Shadow, stuffed inside the apparatus, the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald reported Tuesday.

Deputies said Schomaker told them the kitten had been hyper and he was attempting to calm her down.

Bob Downey, executive director of the Capital Humane Society, said the kitten appeared to be in good condition Monday. Authorities said the animal cruelty charge could be raised to a felony if the cat is found to be injured as a result of the experience.

The deputies said they responded Sunday to the home Schomaker shares with his grandfather after receiving reports of a domestic dispute. They said they left the home after the dispute was resolved, but re-entered the home after discovering that Schomaker had a warrant for his arrest on a possession of drug paraphernalia charge. They said they found Schomaker smoking out of the pipe with the cat inside.