Police Kill Dying Cat, Resident Upset

WHSV ^ | February 13, 2012 | Tim Wronka

[Altariel]

A Harrisonburg resident says a cat's death was anything but quick and painless, after it was struck by a vehicle. Now, he wants police held responsible.

"Shocking," is how Wayne Meadows describes the way a Harrisonburg police officer killed a cat he rescued from the side of the road. He says the officer beat the cat to death with his night stick.

"I was a wreck at that point. I mean I was completely in shock. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say," Wayne says.

Wayne said he had to call police because local vets and animal services were closed since it was late at night on Friday, November 11th. He tried to comfort the cat until the officer arrived.

They discussed what to do, and when the officer offered to put the cat out of its misery, using a night stick was the last thing Wayne expected.

"I went inside expecting a gun shot and then I heard it happening on my front porch. I heard at least 15-20 hits," Wayne says.

The officer removed the body, but he had to clean the rest.

"It was nasty to say the least. I was sick to my stomach the whole time doing it. I tried to wash it off as best as I could," Wayne says.

The officer told him to contact police because of damage to the house. There are stains and smashed siding around the porch. Wayne did contact police, but says they didn't get back to him. However, the department offered WHSV this statement saying they did receive the complaint.

"An internal investigation was conducted into this matter and appropriate action has been taken internally. In addition, the department continues to review the current procedures in handling animal complaints is to determine if any changes or modifications need to be made."

Wayne says he was so shocked to act at the time, but hopes this never happens again.

"The only thing I wished I had done differently is as soon as I saw that nightstick I would've ran out and stopped him. That's what I wished I would have done," Wayne says.

Harrisonburg police did not say whether or not they contacted Wayne after the fact. He says he has tried several times to complain, and as of Monday night, he has not heard back.

[Altariel]

A compassionate man putting a suffering animal out of its misery would use a single bullet.

This cat was beat with a nightstick 15-20 times.

[coloradan]

Seems to me at least one peasant was charged with felony animal cruelty for doing something like that. But, somehow, cops are different. When they do it, it’s ok.

[davisfh]

The insensitivity of some people knows no bounds.

[perchprism]

Poor Kitty.

[Netizen]

many vets have numbers for emergency calls. This would be one.

Just awful.

[The_Media_never_lie]

A compassionate man putting a suffering animal out of its misery would use a single bullet.

An officer cannot just fire his/her weapon when they like. They would have to fill out a lengthy report. The officer was in a no win situation.

[Theoria]

Dam man. You pick up a struck cat, off the road, or laying on your porch and you call the police? Is that the general role of the police force? Why? Is this common on other parts of the US. Just curious.

[The_Media_never_lie]

many vets have numbers for emergency calls. This would be one.

Vet emergency rooms are for paying customers.

[coloradan]

I guess you’re right. At least the officer didn’t mace the kitty first. Could have tased it though, or maybe slapped cuffs on it first. And then beaten it to death with the nightstick.

[Altariel]

The officer was the one to *volunteer* putting the animal out of his misery.

The officer than chose to not do so in a more humane manner.

The victim was the animal, not the officer.

A person who thinks it is better to beat an animal to death rather than deal with *paperwork* is not someone who makes good, conservative judgments.

[MNDude]

When I was young and on vacation in Mexico I found a beaten cat in a bag in the garbage. I’m pretty sure his back was broken. It was late at night and I thought I’d might whack it with a board to take it out of it’s misery. The girl I was with didn’t like the idea and talked me out of it, so I left it there. I kind of regret leaving it like that, but who knows, what if it took lots of whacks to finish it off.

[Viking2002]

"An internal investigation was conducted into this matter and appropriate action has been taken internally. In addition, the department continues to review the current procedures in handling animal complaints is to determine if any changes or modifications need to be made."

Yeah, no kidding. This is one of those screwed up situations where you can point fingers in a dozen different directions, yet possibly not hit the responsible party (pun not intended). I can certainly feel for the owner - if one of our dogs or my wife's cat were badly injured by a car, we'd be beside ourselves. (We do have the luxury of the animal clinic only being five minutes up the road with 24 hour on-call, and have used it for a terminally ill pet in the middle of the night.) But, I also have to feel a little for the cop in this instance. He's subject to the laws and ordinances covering governing animal complaint calls; is it within his legal authority to euthanize an injured domestic animal, and does it spell out how and under what circumstances, or is that subject to his (or her) discretion? And is Harrisonburg municipal Animal Control supposed to get involved at some point? The one thing I can tell you is that there would be hell to pay if he discharged his weapon within city limits to put down a cat, no matter how humane or compassionate his intent was, which is why he didn't draw down on it to begin with. As it is, he'll probably have PETA and a gaggle of other animal rights groups crawling around in his shorts for dispatching it like a baby seal. Classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario. Nobody wins, including poor ol' Fluffy. The one thing we can take away from this is, we've regulated and legislated common sense right out of our society, and this is another of myriad examples how.

"As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

--H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

[IDFbunny]

Another victory for the drug warriors. The WoD just enables this bs.

[SaraJohnson]

I was on a date one time and the boy I was with hit a racoon with his car. The animal ran out in front of the car and it could not be avoided. My date got out and walked to the back of the car to look at the poor thing and then opened his trunk, got out the tire iron and... I stayed in the car but I knew what he had to do. He had run over and cruched the animal’s back end and it was suffering. I thought he was very brave to handle the situation. He was only seventeen.

[Ramius]

I would say there’s nothing inherently “cruel” about using a club to dispatch a small animal. One good solid crack on the skull and death should be pretty much instantaneous. We don’t know here, and won’t know, upon which strike the cat died. Could be it was dead on on the first blow. Why the excessive number of hits? I have no idea. That’s worth finding out.

But the mere fact that the officer used his PR-24 or an ASP baton to kill a cat is in no way “cruel”, all by itself.

[The Antiyuppie]

“An officer cannot just fire his/her weapon when they like. They would have to fill out a lengthy report. The officer was in a no win situation.”

I agree with this. What about the bullet fragments, or worse, a ricochet? This was a very tough, snap call under extreme duress. I came very close to having to make a decision like this with my own pet. I wasn’t there, so I would have to leave this to the best judgement of people on the scene.

[fortheDeclaration]

Frankly, the guy didn't want to deal with the responsibility and now he is feeling guilty.

Ofcourse, if the cat was somone's pet, it is really their fault that the animal died that way-KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS.

[Gene Eric]

Well put.