A man investigators believe has been collecting free kittens through newspaper classifieds for the purpose of torturing them is being investigated by Salt Lake County Animal Services.

The man was charged with two counts of animal abuse and one count of abandonment, all misdemeanors, in June. He is scheduled to be arraigned on those charges Oct. 17. Now, investigators are looking at other possible abuse cases. Another injured kitten was brought to their attention just last week.

The purpose of the abuse appears to be to keep in contact with a former girlfriend, Animal Services spokeswoman Temma Martin said.

Investigators believe the man has adopted a total of seven or eight kittens over the past few months. Nearly all of them have suffered some type of "accident." After each incident, the man called the former girlfriend so she would come over and help with the injured animal.

"Nobody gets that many kittens and has that many accidents," Martin said.

Some of those alleged accidents included a kitten with a broken front leg and another with a broken, and possibly burned, tail and burnt ears. After that kitten was brought to the shelter, Animal Services was forced to amputate part of the tail because of the damage, Martin said.

In one case, the man claimed a cat was inside some rolled up carpet that he accidentally stepped on, Martin said. In another, the man claimed he found the kitten with burnt ears, again after being in rolled up carpet, she said. In at least one case he blamed neighbor children for taking his kittens, Martin said.

Investigators were alerted to the suspected abuse when the former girlfriend brought two kittens to them. Of the seven or eight kittens the man has taken in, the former girlfriend said some of them have simply disappeared.

"She doesn't even know what happened to them. She thinks they were killed," Martin said.

Animal Services did not want to release the name of the Kearns man for fear he might retaliate against the former girlfriend. Martin said there is a history of domestic abuse between the couple that has been documented by reports from the sheriff's office. His name, however, will become public record at the time of his arraignment on the charges.

Martin said her office wants to get the word out to residents, partly to warn against giving kittens away for free.

"This is both a sick case of animal abuse and a warning to the community about giving away unwanted baby animals," she said.

Instead of giving them away to unfamiliar people, she said, entrusting the animals to a shelter — where they can be humanely cared for is a better option.

The Newspaper Agency Corp. — which handles classified advertising for the Deseret Morning News and The Salt Lake Tribune — has made it a policy for a number of years to not accept advertisements for free pets because of Humane Society concerns.