The narrator boasts of his well-known kindness and compassion towards animals, which was mirrored by his wife. His favorite pet of theirs was a large black cat named Pluto. As the years passed, the narrator became more besotted by drink and consumed by his own cruelty and perverseness. He abused his wife and the animals.

Pluto, who was his favorite, bore the brunt of his rage. One day, the narrator cut out one of the cat's eyes, and not long after that, he hanged the cat from the branch of his tree.