Photo courtesy of the Washington Humane Society

A D.C. man was arrested on Saturday and charged today with two counts of felony animal cruelty after he allegedly declawed two eight-week-old kittens in his own home earlier this year.

If convicted, Eric Gaskin, 39, faces up to five years in jail and a $25,000 fine. The Washington Humane Society provided details of the gruesome incident in a press release:

In early May 2012, officers from the Washington Humane Society’s Humane Law Enforcement department learned of two kittens that had been victims of extreme cruelty. When presented with the kittens, the officers found that neither could walk and all of their toes on each paw were infected.

The kittens were taken immediately to a local emergency animal hospital, where surgeons found that each of the kittens’ claws had been ripped from their feet. In the process of this home declawing procedure most of the bones in each foot were crushed, including each of the kittens’ four legs. Doctors believe the breaks occurred when kittens struggled to escape. Due to the severity of the injuries the kittens sustained, the bones could not be repaired and both were euthanized.

“In my twenty plus year career in animal welfare, this stands out as one of the worst cases of animal torture,” said Scott Giacoppo, Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Programs Officer of the Washington Humane Society.

“Declawing, even when done by experienced surgeons, can often be the source of chronic pain. These kittens literally had their toes cut off without any sort of pain control,” said Dr. Megan McAndrew, Medical Director of the Washington Humane Society. “This type of nerve damage would cause excruciating pain that would have been difficult to manage even with very strong pain medications. Furthermore, the probability of success, even with heroic efforts, would have been slim to none due to the high potential for infection and continued severe pain and suffering.”

In July the Humane Society arrested a D.C. man was arrested and charged in the killing of a puppy with a cement block.