Posted on 07/29/2008 10:13:12 AM PDT by redtetrahedron
A 9-year-old Edgemoor Gardens, Delaware boy was arrested on Friday and charged with setting a kitten on fire.
According to New Castle County Police the 9-year-old was among a group of boys who poured lighter fluid on the kitten and then set it ablaze.
Now the young boy is facing a felony count of cruelty to animals because the kitten died.
Police are still looking for the other boys involved in the incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at transworldnews.com ...
Sounds like something I would have done as a 9 year old.
If this is true, then this kid needs help pronto.
If he wet himself while he did it, he would fit the classic profile of a budding serial killer.
Big time. I think for this kid it’s already too late. Therapy won’t stop what is coming. Time to look into his background and see what’s up with this kid
THANK GOD I AM A FREERIDER.....PING!!!
This kid needs lifelong monitoring. Many famous serial killers started with cruelty to animals.
Funny you should mention. When I was a nine year old I came upon two of my classmates torturing a cat. I ran over, surveyed the scene to be sure, kicked one of them in the stomach, and punched the other one in the ear. They proceeded to beat me up. Cat ran away. Boys came to nothing. I have no respect for anyone who could ever find it within himself to harm a living being for fun.
Probably will be one dangerous adult. No conscience, no feelings. Not a good sign.
> If he wet himself while he did it, he would fit the classic profile of a budding serial killer.
Truly chilling.
I believe you.
When I was about 5 I was playing cowboys and Native American (I think we called it something else pre PC days). I took a cat and hung him. At that age I didn’t realize things died but I came close to meeting Jesus myself after my mom beat the hell out of me. She made me bury ol puffy (the injun) behind the barn.
99.999% of people who are cruel to animals are not serial killers. The kid needs help, but let's not go overboard labling him as a potential serial killer.
An exercise such as this would not have been to make or see or enjoy the cat's suffering. It would have been because I had seen something like that in a cartoon.
I am not saying this kid doesn't need help, but if this was an isolated example of his misbehavior then it would certainly describe something I might have dreamed up. Especially in a group setting of others that age!
You are lucky to be alive.
Yes. Children who abuse animals will do even worse to humans.
Despite the OMG CEREAL KLLR hype, I have known several kind, responsible, well adjusted men who admit to torturing animals as kids. It’s nothing to be proud of, but doesn’t mean the kids going to turn into a monster.
NEDM
He is a 9 year old boy. They do stupid things sometimes. Sometimes really, really, really stupid. The act was sick, but let's not condemn a 9 year old to being a serial killer.
Did you also set fires and wet your bed?
I killed a frog once when I was 8 or 9, killed two deer when I was 20, I wonder why I never turned into a mass murderer, I never got help.
For the record...I was kidding.
I killed a frog when I was 8 or 9, what's coming?
It is odd to see so many people parroting the hype of PETA. Certainly many serial killers did sick things as children, but that doesn't mean a kid doing those same things will be a serial killer. Nobody knows one thing about this kid beyond this article.
I agree it was a sick stupid thing to do and the kid needs to learn this is not how to treat any living thing.
“Probably will be one dangerous adult.”
He’ll probably be one dangerous teenager. Boys tend to do things like blow up frogs on a hotplate, but over the past few million years, man has developed a completely different relationship to cats and dogs, than we have to frogs.
To set a kitten on fire and watch it run about as it screams and dies takes a level of viciousness that I can’t fathom. I wasn’t even able to wack my puppy on the nose with a rolled up newspaper when he messed on the floor.
I tend to agree that this kid has already crossed a threshold that there’s no going back from, but he needs to be looked as by someone ASAP before he graduates to people.
Who knows, but you better check into a mental ward real soon before you harm someone.
The kid is nine. If he was fourteen or so, I would be a lot more concerned.
Re: I have no respect for anyone who could ever find it within himself to harm a living being for fun.
I agree 100%, regardless of age.
Re: 99.999% of people who are cruel to animals are not serial killers
Sorry, but you are blatantly ignorant of the facts.
A friend of my sister has a son that has austistic tendencies.
The mother is in denial. The child (7 yr old) has a temper that is unbelievable. Mom lets him sit in front of tv all day or play video games. This kid was at my sisters house and took a dart and stabbed the cat with it. Thank God the cat got away with minor injuries and is just fine now but the mothers attitude is the cat must have done something to her son first.
The mother is in denial. He has been left back 2x mostly because he cannot assimilate with others his age. Even his therapist says Mom is the problem. No father in the house. She only goes to him when she needs money but won’t let him see the poor boy. This child has been like this for the last several years. This is how it begins. Yet no one reports her to Child Welfare. They just say, Oh poor “david” (not real name) The mother pawns him off on whoever she can when possible because she needs a break. She really doesn’t see the harm she is doing to him in the long run. I told my sister one day he is going to beat the S*&t out of her for saying no to him. My goddaughters are no longer allowed to play with him because he is so violent and doesn’t comprehend sharing, playing nice etc. It’s a sad story. I have told my sister to report it but she says she cant do it. The schools and therapist all know the situation and no one has reported her. This is all happening in FL. I just don’t get it. I pray this child will get the help he needs and not another video game before he hurts someone or himself. (he also bangs his head on floor/walls).
I wonder if all the people here who have the “no problem” attitude toward this type of behavior would let their own kids near this kid?
My guess is no.
You know there's an old saying that goes: "if everyone at a party says you are drunk, go lay down". Sometimes we are too close to ourselves to see what we really are.
That's what this kid needs; Someone who cares enough about him to teach him exactly why what he did was wrong, with a liberal application of the wooden spoon. Unfortunately he'll probably end up with several hours of counseling, anger management classes and a short stay in juvie with a bunch of kids who are just as messed up as he is...
There have been millions of incidents over the years of kids being cruel to animals, and yet there are only a handful of serial killers. Do the math. As far your statement being correct, there has been little research that shows that, and is based on only a few cases, like 5, making it statistically meaningless.
I killed a lot of squirrels, raccoons, possums, frogs, snakes, dove, quail, rabbits, armadillos, coyotes, and turtles when I was growing up on the farm too. Of course, we ate the frogs, doves, quail, rabbits and even made squirrel BBQ at times.
Does this mean we both need to go to the psychic ward?
Sounds like you had a good mom!
I think the difference of “sadistic torture” comes into play here, not that you guys probably shouldn’t be vetted by some black ops however ....
But I already live in San Francisco!
Nobody here has said that this behavior is acceptable.
This is one of the cases where I support throwing the book at the kid.
You live in San Fran. When was the last time you had an 'encounter' in one of those adult theaters? Last month? I'm sure people who are capable of cold cruelty aren't overly worried about what happens to themselves either.
I would have never done that to an animal when I was a kid. Even at nine, you’re old enough to know it’s wrong.
This kid has some major issues that had better be taken care of quick before he grows up and starts practicing on larger things, like people.
OK, you’re going to have to help me out with that one. Acronym Finder lists these meanings...
Not Even Doom Music
Neutron Electric Dipole Moment
Nuclear Event Detonation Monitoring
New England Dance Masters
New England Dietary Marketing
Nisbet and Edwards Drift Mine
none of which make sense in this context.
Or ejaculated while he did it, even worse.
Where did I say no problem???? I am just against everyone jumping on this kid thinking he is destined to be a serial killer. That is over the top bullcrap. The kid needs help.
Another self-admitted frog killer here. Wasn’t really intentional. Long-story-short: his chute didn’t open in time.
I can also check the ‘no’ box in the ‘serial-killer’ column. The hysterical statism in this thread scares me worse than what happens when 9-year-old boys are left unsupervised.
Felt bad about it, and definitely would not have done the same to a cat, but not willing to condemn a kid who did to a lifetime of court-ordered emotional rape. THAT really might turn someone into a mass-murderer.
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