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A tip from an animal-rights group led to charges against two 14-year-old Marion County girls who posted a video of themselves kicking a cat wrapped in plastic on the popular Web site MySpace.com.
"I think we have a pretty good case," Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Thursday as he watched the video online for the first time.
Authorities were alerted to the video by a letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, charging documents indicate.
The nearly two-minute video, which was still on the Web site Thursday afternoon, shows the girls dropping, shoving and kicking the plastic-wrapped cat, named Stump, around a room, making comments such as "How does it feel?"
MySpace.com officials could not be reached for comment. The social-networking site, used by more than 40 million people, lets users create their own Web pages and is especially popular with teens and young adults.
"Someone saw this video of cat abuse and contacted our organization," said Kristin DeJournett, a cruelty caseworker for PETA based in Memphis, Tenn. The organization contacted animal control and the Marion County prosecutor's office.
PETA learned of the video April 12 and sent out the notices the next day, DeJournett said.
The cat was removed from the home by Indianapolis animal-control officers, according to the prosecutor's office.
Both girls have been released to their mothers pending a trial June 13. Authorities withheld the girls' names because the animal cruelty charge they face would be a misdemeanor if it had involved an adult. Names of juveniles charged with felony-level offenses are public.
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