DAVID SCOTT GENOVESE sentenced to prison for adopting cats with the sole purpose of torturing, abusing, and murdering them

- California, USA -

⚠️WARNING⚠️The article contains details some of you may find distressing⚠️

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch announced that on August 6, 2025,

36-year-old DAVID SCOTT GENOVESE pled guilty to five counts of animal cruelty and “admitted a special allegation for personally using a deadly weapon.”

This monstrous case began on January 25, 2025, when deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office discovered a cat in distress in GENOVESE’s vehicle.

The cat, named Sultan, was found with a paracord around his tiny neck and his paws bound with duct tape.

According to DA Savrnoch, Sultan was determined to have “significant injuries including broken teeth, bones, and severe head trauma.”

Deputies learned that GENOVESE had just adopted Sultan a few hours earlier from a Los Angeles-based animal shelter. Sultan was in good health when he left the shelter thinking he was going to be happy in a happy home!

The sheriff’s office and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office launched a joint investigation from which it emerged that at some point in 2024, GENOVESE began “accumulating, torturing, and disposing of cats in the Santa Barbara area,” said DA Savrnoch in a press release.

Investigators learned that between August 4 and September 6 of 2024, GENOVESE adopted four cats from both the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Animal Shelters; their conditions and whereabouts are unknown. Additionally, GENOVESE had stolen two kittens from the same animal shelter in Los Angeles on January 15, 2025. Their whereabouts are not known.

While a warrant was obtained for GENOVESE’s arrest, on January 29, 2025, he stole a 2.5-year-old orange tabby cat named Lancelot from a family home in Ventura.

GENOVESE was taken into custody on January 30, 2025, and in the trunk of his vehicle, deputies sadly found Lancelot, lifeless. According to DA Savrnoch, Lancelot’s paws were “bound with packaging tape, similar to Sultan.”

Deputies then returned to the area where they had initially contacted GENOVESE and 55 feet from where he was parked, they discovered a deceased tabby cat in varying stages of decomposition.

As stated in the release, “The tabby cat’s paws were bound together with black duct tape, the same tape located in the defendant’s vehicle. The animals suffered extensive bruising, multiple broken legs, all four canine teeth broken, dislocation to their spines, and dislocation to their tails.”

The Honorable Judge Von Deroian has sentenced DAVID SCOTT GENOVESE to the maximum sentence of 6 years, 8 months in State Prison.

I have reached out to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office to request more information about the furvictims and if I get a response, I will update the article accordingly.

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Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from the press release by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.

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