FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A jury has acquitted a Pembroke Pines man of a felony animal cruelty charge after he shot his cat in the head because he believed it was ill.

Michael Stueve had faced up to five years in prison for killing his cat, Mama Kitty.

Police said that Stueve was drunk when he shot the cat. Stueve claimed that the cat was sick, and that was why he shot it. Police said they found three spent shell casings from Stueve's gun at his Holly Lakes mobile home.

A necropsy revealed that the cat had heart and skin conditions that a prosecutor said were treatable. Stueve's defense attorney said that the cat's health had deteriorated in the weeks before the 2005 shooting.

Florida law allows pet owners to kill their own pets in a humane and proficient manner if the animal is suffering, near death or can't be cured.