Rodney Travis Jr., pictured after his arrest on animal cruelty and fraud charges earlier this year. (Courtesy WTVR)
A 27-year-old Chesterfield County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $25,000 Sept. 23 after pleading guilty in Henrico Circuit Court to six felony counts of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge and three felony computer fraud charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a scheme in which he injured cats and used videos of the animals to fraudulently solicit donations online.
Rodney Travis Jr. entered the guilty pleas Sept. 23 before Henrico Circuit Judge Linda Lambert. The plea agreement resulted in the largest animal cruelty sentence ever issued in Virginia, according to Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.
Prosecutors identified at least 19 cats by name who they said were victimized by Travis, including at least six whose deaths they attributed to him directly. They indicated that the actual number of animals he victimized could be higher.
The case began Feb. 12, when Henrico Police Detective Elizabeth Wright received a report about suspected animal cruelty and computer fraud involving social media accounts that featured injured or distressed cats. Prosecutors said accounts operating under names including “Noah the Cat,” “Sophia Meows” and “Hayden the Cat” solicited donations for purported cancer treatments.
But veterinary and adoption records showed the cats did not have cancer, according to prosecutors’ summary of evidence. They said that veterinary experts were prepared to testify that injuries visible in the videos instead were consistent with blunt-force trauma and that some cats had been given gabapentin or similar drugs, side effects of which include drowsiness, dizziness and loss of balance.
Investigators also alleged that Travis fabricated veterinary bills, shaved cats’ stomachs and bandaged their legs to make it appear they were undergoing medical treatment.
Travis linked to multiple fundraising campaigns involving cats
Investigators ultimately linked Travis to a number of fundraising campaigns involving cats under names including Hayden, Sophia, Noah, Minnie/Liam, Azul, Bradley, Kelvin and Alex, MacAulay, Timothee, Tuna and Chester. Prosecutors cautioned that the list might not represent every account Travis created.
According to prosecutors, three of the most recent campaigns were produced using footage filmed at Henrico hotels: the Home2 Suites in September 2025, the Residence Inn Short Pump Northwest in November and the Candlewood Suites in January 2026. Investigators said hotel records, videos, and geolocation data helped establish those locations.
Prosecutors alleged that Travis used the scheme in part to finance a music career under the name “Seth Thraxx.”” Financial records showed that the animal-related accounts raised at least $407,111,” prosecutors said. Combined with other alleged fraudulent fundraising activity attributed to Travis, authorities said they could document at least $766,045 raised from tens of thousands of donors.
The investigation escalated Feb. 13 after police examined a Henrico hotel room that Travis had recently left, according to the Commonwealth’s summary. Investigators reported finding blood spatter and smears, clumps of fur, and bloodied fur in a trash can. Feline DNA testing later matched blood from the room to a cat identified by investigators as Nara.
Police obtained an arrest warrant and nighttime search warrant and, with assistance from Chesterfield authorities, entered Travis’ Chesterfield apartment that evening. They found Travis and seven cats inside, according to prosecutors.
One cat, Vivi, was found barely moving and suffering from extreme blunt-force trauma to her head, according to the commonwealth’s evidence. She died while being transported for emergency veterinary treatment. Prosecutors said veterinary experts would have testified that Vivi suffered catastrophic injuries, including a crushed skull, after being swung by her tail and thrown against the bathroom floor and wall.
Six other cats found alive in the apartment were taken for veterinary evaluations. Five had relatively minor injuries, but another cat, Keanu, had multiple skull and rib fractures, spinal and foot fractures, and injuries in various stages of healing that prosecutors said indicated repeated trauma.
Investigators also reported finding syringes and liquid gabapentin, blood-stained bedding and other materials, financial records, numerous electronic devices, and a whiteboard that prosecutors said outlined steps for carrying out fraudulent campaigns.
Rodney Travis, Jr. (Courtesy Henrico Police)
Plea restricts Travis from contact with animals, Henrico hotels, VRBOs, Airbnbs
The plea agreement imposes extensive restrictions on Travis following his eventual release from prison. He will serve five years of supervised probation and is prohibited for life from purchasing, possessing, owning, transporting, caring for, or intentionally having contact with animals.
He is also prohibited from intentionally entering animal shelters, rescues, pet stores, veterinary offices, farms, and other places where animals are available to the public. Travis will be placed on Henrico County’s Animal Cruelty Registry, and the agreement permits law enforcement or animal-control officials to conduct random inspections of his residence during the period in which his sentences remain suspended to ensure that he has no animals.
The agreement also bars Travis “from the property of all hotels, motels, Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO), and Airbnbs in Henrico County.”
In addition, it prohibits him from using websites or mobile applications to raise money for himself or on his behalf and requires him to provide investigators with any information he has about the whereabouts and fate of each cat involved in the cases.
The sentence “reflects the horrific crimes the defendant inflicted on these cats,” Taylor said.
Taylor credited the Henrico Police Division, Virginia Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit, Chesterfield Police Department, and Chesterfield Animal Control for their work on the investigation.
“My office and Henrico County continue to be dedicated to the protection of animals and for those who consider their pets a member of their families.”
Taylor said the case also highlighted the need for Henrico’s relatively new public Animal Cruelty Registry, which tracks people convicted of serious animal-cruelty offenses.
The case was prosecuted by Henrico Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Dylan McAuley and Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch.
