Posted on 07/18/2007 5:14:12 PM PDT by DCBryan1
Teen Girls Accused Of Setting Kitten Ablaze.
COTATI, Calif. -- A three-month-old kitten is fighting for his life after allegedly being set afire by two teenage girls last week.
The male shorthaired kitten, named Adam, received second- and third-degree burns over 75 percent of its body and was being treated at an animal hospital in Cotati, in Northern California's Sonoma County, officials said.
The kitten has undergone two surgeries and had its tail and the tips of its ears amputated.
Two girls have been charged with cruelty to animals in connection with the case. They were arrested last Friday after allegedly pouring flammable liquid on the cat, only 8 weeks old at the time and setting it on fire.
A boy and his friend said they saw the smoke and heard the cat shrieking while the girls laughed.
The girls are being held in Sonoma County's Juvenile Hall. The maximum penalty carried by the charges against them is three years of confinement.
Thanks for your excellent posting. Just seeing the pictures of Adam the kitten breaks my heart and angers me.
They usually are, then act all innocent and pure as the new driven snow when adults are around; teary eyed, puzzled, hurt feeeeeelings, and all. Very sneaky and manipulative.
Still, I’m glad you dealt with it.
It reminds me of a story a black preacher told of growing up in his little Texas town. Some guy had a habit of beating his wife. The deacons at church finally told him no more, or else.... Well, he did it again, so the deacons paid him a visit and gave him the *or else*; they beat the crap out of him. He never laid a hand on his wife again.
Sometimes it takes strong measures.
As far as the idea that these efforts to save this kitten could be better spent elsewhere, IMHO, it's their time and money and they can spend it how they wish.
Also, I'm sure they would put Adam down if he had no chance of a good quality life or was suffering so badly. Just like they do with all other animals.
Thank you! How’d you do that?
Is Bretheren like Mennonite?
There’s going to be second degree somewhere under that third degree. I doubt there’s a clear cut line of demarcation between third degree and nothing.
Nevertheless, you’re right, it is their time and money and if people want to do that, it’s a free country and they have the right. I really don’t see the point though.
LiNKS WORK BETTER
when they are on their own lines with a line of space above and below.
Otherwise, it’s complicated to do it with html code—readily doable but a bother.
Substitute the below “<” right and left for the “(” “)”
(A HREF=”url link”) CLICK HERE—I usually paste the URL link here, too (/A)
But if you use the above html coding having substituted right and left carets for the parentheses above . . . then the whole post has to be in html coding.
If you just past the URL link on it’s own line in a NON html coded post, it usually works quite well.
Of course, I just think if it was that bad, they would have put him down.
Sonoma County Juvenile Hall 155 N. Pythian Road Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Office of the District Attorney County of Sonoma Room 212-J Hall of Justice 600 Administration Drive Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Juvenile District Attorney 111 N. Pythian Road Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Humane Society Forget Me Not Farm 5345 Highway 12 Santa Rosa, CA 95402 Phone: 707.542.0746
Sonoma County Sheriff's Department 2796 Ventura Ave. Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Personally? I think these two girls should be sent to a mental institution for life. Punishing them would not 'rehabilitate' them and a death sentence seems a bit harsh. I just really don't have a perfect answer for what to seriously do with these two harmful members of society! Where are there parents? What kind of upbringing have they had? this can't be the first time they've demonstrated total disregard for another living thing. They are twisted and sick and as such, should be locked away forever from the rest of us.
The description of his injuries in post 14 sound that bad. I really don’t understand the point of trying to keep him alive, unless it just might be to show the *girls* that they weren’t going to win this one.
I understand where you're coming from but he is eating, drinking, purring and playing. And look at that face!! As long as the vet is willing to help him and he has the gumption to survive, he should be given the chance for a happy life filled with love and trust.
Hmmmm. The kitten needs a skin graft. I wonder if human facial skin will work? We can try.
Ok...well bringing that up in here is out of place....you are in the wrong thread.
If this was an accident -- a house fire, for example -- I would agree. But "we" caused it and "we" need to fix it, more for our sake than the cat's.
That kitten shows no sign of being in any significant pain. I think he’s very high on Fentanyl. The longer article says he “bats playfully at toys” and that he’s eating on his own. This is nowhere near comparable to the condition of a severely burned human who is in pain beyond what painkillers can alleviate. And despite having been born feral, and his only experience with humans being the pseudo-humans who set him on fire and the staff at the vet hospital who have been treating him, in the photo where he’s perched on that vet’s shoulder, he’s looking like he feels safe and secure, not fearful and looking for a way to escape. This tells me that the treatments he’s been receiving have not caused him to view humans as a source of any serious pain.
You can watch a video of the kitten playing, and then curling up for a nap afterwards, here http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MEDIA&bcpid=770169275&bclid=769393745&bctid=1111458181 He’s just not a candidate for euthanasia at this time.
If he’s survived this long, I think he’s almost certain to make it. I think the vet was saying that without all this special care, he wouldn’t make it, not that he doesn’t have an excellent chance with the care. Yes, there’s a chance that an infection will set in, and kill him (probably quickly, if it happens). But it seems unlikely at this point.
Per this article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/BAG61QV7A11.DTL it sounds like another good reason to pull out all the stops to try to save this kitten, is the little boy who rescued it. He’s growing up in a gang-infested neighborhood and needs to see the big effort to follow through on his effort to help a tortured, terrified, helpless creature.
“Getting all weepy isn’t often a good idea in a place known for gang activity and murders, but it hasn’t been easy for 11-year-old Cesar Rojas to hide his feelings concerning the little kitten he found nearly burned to death. He turns his head when visitors ask about the kitten he and a friend found cowering in the bushes June 19 after two older girls allegedly set it on fire. “It was barely breathing when we got it,” he said, his voice scarcely audible. “It wanted to live.” Cesar saved the kitten’s life when he picked it out of the bushes and brought it to the apartment manager . . . While kicking a soccer ball with his friends, Cesar said he is happy the kitten is still alive and angry at the girls accused of torching it. “They should go to jail,” he said, looking up, his eyes glaring with anger and pain. Then he turned and ran off.”
The psychopathic, torturing, murdering monsters were sent to prison for 10 years. The packed courtroom, who heard the full testimony, disagreed -- many believing the sentence was not long enough.
Thanks for the video link. That video says it all. He seems like he is in fine spirits to me.
LOL, that gives new meaning to the phrease “laying on of hands”. Good for them!
Thank you so much for this! That video makes just makes me cry. It’s nice to know people care so much about him....I hope though, that they find his siblings that were stolen...I hate to think about that.
I like that.
I’ve seen people criticize the OT law for the *eye for an eye* kind of justice, but the more I see the crazy things people are doing out there, the more I can see its usefulness.
I also like the OT system of payback for stealing or damaging property. I think it would be far more effective than simply throwing someone in jail to become a hardened criminal. There’s something about working for money that gives you a real sense of what its worth, and to have to work to pay back someone you wronged, I think would go a lot further.
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