A 21-year-old Dallas man calmly testified Wednesday about how he tortured a cat for "a big laugh," cutting its tail and ear off while the animal was still alive before setting it ablaze.

Then, he said, he ate the severed ear as a friend videotaped the episode.

Ryan Coleman seemed detached as he recounted the abuse he inflicted on the cat, including cutting off its tail with a kitchen knife.

"It came off pretty easily," Mr. Coleman said in court. "Inch-thick-steak easy."

Mr. Coleman, who has been in jail since February, pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty on Tuesday. He said he hoped for probation but did not expect it.

"I deserve whatever you give me," he told the jury Wednesday as they prepared to determine his punishment.

Mr. Coleman's father, Robert Coleman, asked for leniency but described his son as a "sociopath" who had been an "ugly rotten kid."

"I've never heard him say he's sorry for what he did," he said. "I don't think he's capable of it."

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Jennifer Bennett, Mr. Coleman said the torture lasted several hours, beginning after he and a friend started shooting squirrels with a BB gun on a Sunday afternoon in November 2003. Mr. Coleman spotted Tiger in a Far East Dallas neighborhood and shot him. The cat appeared paralyzed, so they dropped it off at a closed veterinary office, he said.

Mr. Coleman returned late that night and removed the cat from the front door and placed it in the trunk of his car. With two juvenile friends tagging along, Mr. Coleman drove to Truett Elementary School with the injured cat.

"We knew we were going to kill the cat," he said. "At the time, none of us cared about the cat."

He said he tied the cat's legs together and stomped on it and threw it.

"It was just sitting there," he said. "Every once in a while it would throw out a gurgle."

The friends later destroyed the videotape, and the case went unsolved for more than two years until authorities received a tip implicating Mr. Coleman.

Mary Lou Randour, a psychologist and outreach coordinator for the Humane Society, testified during the punishment phase of Mr. Coleman's trial that his actions and lack of remorse are disturbing and could indicate a strong likelihood that he will commit violent acts in the future.

Besides committing animal cruelty, Mr. Coleman also admitted playing with fire as an adolescent.

"Animal cruelty and playing with fire are strong indicators of future violent offenses," Ms. Randour testified.

The punishment phase of Mr. Coleman's trial resumes today. He faces punishment ranging from probation to 10 years in prison.