STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK — A man from Staten Island was arrested Thursday morning for mercilessly abusing and starving his neighbor’s cat, then streaming footage of his brutality on Facebook Live for the world to see.

Tyrike Richardson, 21, told police the cat scratched him before he found the animal under his bed. Then he said he tried luring it out of the house with food, Staten Island’s SILIVE reported.

Richardson also said the cat scratched his young nephew and that his mother called the ASPCA, but could not reach them. He somehow decided the appropriate next step was to drop a chair on top of the cat, terrify it by waving a knife in its face, and jab it with a stick.

Police later found the tortured animal, still alive, in a trash can covered by garbage and turns out the poor feline was a 2-year-old male named Chester who belongs to Richardson's neighbor.

Chester, who is now in the care of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals suffered rib fractures, liver and kidney damage and injuries to its lungs.

Richardson has been charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal and torturing, injuring and not feeding an animal. According to police, Richardson has a lengthy history of arrests, going all the way back since he was 14.