A San Antonio man who was charged with animal cruelty after a surveillance camera captured him killing a kitten has been sentenced to five years community supervision.<\/p>\n
Ryan Berlanga, 31, turned himself in after he was caught on camera strangling a gray-and-white tabby kitten at a Southwest Side apartment complex on Nov. 9, 2025.<\/p>\n
Berlanga pleaded no contest to a charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, a third-degree felony, according to court documents. He asked for probation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Judge Miguel Najera, who presides over Bexar County Pre-Indictment Court No. 1, sentenced\u00a0him to\u00a0five years of community supervision, a type of probation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
San Antonio police officers were called to an apartment complex after a resident found a dead gray-and-white kitten on a stairwell between the second and third floors. Officers found blood on the stairwell landing and on the kitten’s right ear, according to an arrest affidavit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police were given video from residents that showed a man who later was identified as Berlanga chasing a kitten and grabbing it with both hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Investigators said a loud screech from the kitten was audible and the kitten’s tail could be seen flailing through the stairwell railing as the man appeared to press down on the animal.<\/p>\n