Posted on 02/28/2005 11:01:51 AM PST by Cagey
GILLESPIE -- Authorities admit they had to resort to a Taser to subdue a cat in a manner that is making fur fly around town.
Gillespie Police Chief Rick Hearn said Thursday morning that a cat fight ended earlier this month with one cat being Tasered then shot to death by police officers.
Hearn, who said his officers’ response was appropriate given the circumstances, said the incident began at 9:12 p.m. Feb. 9 when dispatch notified his son, part-time Gillespie police officer Rob Hearn, of a cat fight at the home of George Mull.
Rob Hearn called the Mull house and was told that two cats were fighting in the Mull garage and that one appeared badly hurt. When Hearn, joined by full-time officer Kevin Raymer, went to the house, Mull told them one cat had gone up into the rafters of the garage. The cat had lost an eye and was badly mangled, Mull told police.
Police said the officers attempted to use pepper spray to get the cat down, and when that failed, they called animal control officer Jessica Spangler and told her to bring her harness pole.
The officers attempted to net the cat with the harness pole, and when that failed, used a Taser gun on the animal.
"Once the animal was brought down, Jessica told the officers that the cat was so severely injured that she ordered the officers to shoot the cat. For safety reasons, the officers took the cat outside the city limits and shot it," Chief Hearn said.
A Taser is an electronic stun device. The electricity disrupts the sensor nervous system and the motor nervous system that carries commands from the brain to muscles to control movement. The handheld device projects two darts with the potential charge of thousands of volts of electricity, which can last five seconds. The capability of the instrument has drawn widespread praise and criticism. About 100 deaths have been linked to Taser use since 2000, according to published reports.
One Gillespie resident who heard of the incident was appalled that the officers used a Taser on a small animal and that the animal control officer had ordered the animal shot rather than taken to a veterinarian for either medical treatment or humane euthanasia.
"All of this concerns me greatly," the resident told the Telegraph in a letter. "I would hope that if my cat or dogs ever got out, that animal control and Gillespie’s officers would not kill it inhumanely. Instead, I hope they would capture it and allow me the allotted time to retrieve it."
The Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act does allow, in certain circumstances, animal control personnel, animal shelter employee or law enforcement agencies to humanely kill an animal that is severely injured, diseased or suffering, in a manner that affords a painless death, said Ledy Van Kavage, senior director of legislative services for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. VanKavage said she understood the position the police took, given the cat’s condition.
Chief Hearn said he feels his officers responded appropriately given the situation and had only used the Taser when all other efforts had failed. He said the report does not mention where the second cat went or what the officers did with the dead cat, which had no city tags for identification.
"I am assuming the officers buried the cat," Hearn said. "It was unfortunate that the cat was injured so badly that Jessica felt it had no chance of surviving its injuries. We do have leash laws in Gillespie, and I hope pet owners will make sure their pets have city tags and that their pets are kept contained or on a leash so incidents like these won’t happen."
What, no video link?
"...she ordered the officers to shoot the cat."
God spoke, they did as they were told. I'd fire all of them, and then let them serve their time for animal cruelty.
One of the funniest things I ever saw:
The Pet Cemetary cat used to live on my old street (when I was still a teenager), very deranged, ugly and large (The cat, not me, well not the large part anyway).
One morning I went out to the front porch and I saw this cat doing a samurai stare down with a fairly sizeable dog. The dog began to shake all over and whimper before turning to run... and the cat proceeded to chase him, practically roaring!
I had the unfortunate experience of running into him on my back porch once. He pounced at me and I ran inside closing the door behind scared witless. My friend looked at me like I was nuts, "You've got to be kidding me. Are you a wuss? It's a cat!"
Against my warnings, he stepped out onto the porch with a broom. This cat did an aerial assault toward the poor fool's head. This was followed by him screaming like a girl, running to get back inside and me laughing my butt off.
Conclusion: Brave police officers should blast it with pepper spray and Taser the vicious beast into submission. Wouldn't leather welding gloves have protected your poor hides sufficiently from the nasty kitty cat? Sheesh.
--yeah--I got it, too--
Grabbing my groin and grimacing...
People tend to forget that a cat has 20 very sharp needles for fingers and a mouth full of daggers for teeth, and they use them with great skill when scared or in danger.
Mr. Animal Controll Officer better get some neosoporin and some band-aids.
I'd be willing to bet the cop had a TASER on his gun-belt. Those 5-gallon buckets get kind of heavy, and can be kind of awkward when getting into and out of the patrol car....8-)
Come on now! I'm sure the officer could have had the "safety (read lid)" on while exiting the car with the bucket. The hard part would be taking the bucket off of safety! One slip and the bucket will fire all over your pants and shoes.... =:-)
It's Bush's fault.
The outrage!!
I'm no friend of cats but I like this quote attributed to Mark Twain:
The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that will always be useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful.
Just 'cause a cat lost an eye and was pretty torn up is no reason to "put it out of its misery." I had an old tom cat named Africa who lost an eye, had half a dozen near death experiences from his cat wars, and lived to be about twenty five years old - fathering hundreds of out-of-wedlock kitties, keeping down the mouse population, and generally misbehaving. He died with a smile on his face.
That's right. What was that quote? "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you would like to have." Sounds applicable here too. If there's a hose and a vet available, you can use them. If not, then you have to make do with what you carry on your duty belt. I'm sure the animal control officer was a good judge of what had to be done, and it seems a little silly for people who weren't there to be making statements about whether the actions were appropriate.
Here's what our Sheriff's Office policy says about that subject:
"Only sworn personnel may use a firearm to kill an animal for self-defense, to prevent substantial harm to the officer or another, or when the animal is injured to the degree that humanity requires its relief from further suffering, and other methods of disposal are impractical. If at all possible, the officer shall make every reasonable attempt to locate the owner of the injured animal to determine if the animal can be saved. In all such cases, the officer shall ensure that the action taken does not endanger any person. A memorandum to the immediate supervisor detailing the use of lethal force is required."
Cops are people too. It probably wasn't too easy for the poor guy to kill the kitty, and I'll bet he felt bad about it afterward.
Musta been a Viking Kitty...ya gotta fight ZOT with ZOT...
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