Hiya!
First, I'm gonna second the "This is a PLAYER issue...not PC issue".
Second, I'm first going to say...he sounds like the kind of person who gets a thrill or little feeling of "superiority" by using game rules as a means to, well, be a dick. I'll also say that if you want to deal with it "in game" and not out, there are two choices you can take.
(1) - "I grab his cloak and rip it off him" <--your first, second, third, etc attack until you succeed. Could be risky..
(2) - "He did what to my owl?! Huh... *shrug* ...ok. I say...'That was a bit of a cruel, one might say evil, thing to do'" <---and then...do nothing. Don't let it bother you at the table. See the *players* reaction.
The thing with #2, however, is that he will either leave it along...or he'll try and up the ante. Maybe by trying to cook up your owl and eat it in front of you. Again, shrug your shoulders and say 'Save me a thigh'. Again...watch his reaction. He then may to try and up it again somehow...but no matter what he does, even if it comes down to "I poison his water so he falls asleep, being an elf, then I kill him by suffocation". Again...shrug and say something like 'Oh, well, that was definitely evil. Guess it's time for a new character". ...and watch his reaction. If his reaction(s) towards the 'end' of all this isn't abject silence, with the aire of shame hovering about, then you have yourself a "bad" player. He will never change. He will always do disruptive things to the other players and/or their PC's, and then try and hide behind the "rules" or the ever popular "that's what my guy would do" excuse. In this case, you
must talk to your DM about it and figure out some way to handle it; it's amazing how well the DM saying "OK guys...no dick moves against other PC's, regardless of character, alignment, or anything else. If I think it's a dick move, it won't happen". Or, another way, "No party in-fighting".
If everyone at your table bursts out laughing when he kills your owl, cooks it up, and makes you eat it...well, that's your table and if you don't like it, uh, not much you can do other than walk. Sorry.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
