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."
There's not much more humane end to a cat than a 9mm slug to the head. That is assuming we agree 'humane' means quick and painless....
Not Anymore :)
Reminds me of the old folk song...The cat came back, the very next day, they thought he was a 'gonner but the cat came back 'cause he wouldn't stay away!
Is that like Janet Reno's justice department? We had to bar-b-Que the waco children to save them....
Exactly!
I just presumed everyone would know that.
HEY!!! I know those cats!!!!
Grin...yep, but sometimes they act like they don't know me.
I suppose the trouble I have is that I don't see a quick gun shot to the head is inhumane in a situation like this.
LOL!!!
Very pristine, if I may say so myself.
Don't like it, try to get the law changed. Till then roaming cats may be legally trapped (humainly) and taken to the pound to be put down (it help there odds if they 'lose' their collars and tags on the way to the pound).
Assuming you have the cat chipped it will still cost you to get it out. Here it's double every time up to $300 per trip.
We cleared the roaming/ferral/stray cats completely out of a friends street over a period of a couple of months. The two lesbians that had been supplying them with food objected. They know the law now, but still snear at my buddy every time they see him. Especially when his Lab is devouring the piles of cat food they still leave around.
[Freepmail me to get on or off the Kitty Ping List.]
Wimps.
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