Man arrested for allegedly torturing, killing rats, mice

A Chicago man was arrested for torturing and killing a mouse and a rat and posting videos online of the acts, officials said. Michael Semens, 24, was charged with animal torture and animal cruelty and was released Friday on a $10,000 individual recognizance bond, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday. He was arrested after YouTube videos were posted online of him cutting off a live rat's tail and ears with surgical scissors, the police report said. A second video shows Semens using a Taser on a mouse that was stuck on a glue trap until the animal died. "I know I messed up. I shouldn't have done it," Semens told officers during his arrest. "I literally work in garbage," Semens told Judge Donald Panarese Jr. "If I see a rat, I catch it."