A KITTEN that was thrown from a moving truck receives medical
care at the Polk County Animal Control facility in Winter Haven
on Wednesday. The kitten was placed in foster care.
Posted on 07/24/2008 12:51:20 PM PDT by rface
The two friends followed Arthur through a series of twists and turns off Socrum Loop Road, until he decided to turn around in the parking lot of a vacant business. That's where Pribe first saw Arthur's face, with a cigar hanging out of his mouth and wearing a dingy hat, she said.
They followed him back to U.S. 98 North, where he turned into the supply store. She parked away from the store and called 911 for a second time and waited for deputies to arrive, she said.
"Before we knew it, there were lots of police cars all over the place," she said.......
On her way to Walgreens, Denise Pribe didn't expect to see three small kittens being thrown from a truck traveling in front of her on a rural North Lakeland road.
First it was two - one was crushed by the truck's tire, she said, while the second tumbled to the side of the road, shaken. Half a mile farther down Rockridge Road, a third was thrown from the passenger window.
Pribe, along with friend Sean Reynolds, called the police and pursued the white GMC pickup, which deputies say was driven by David Carl Arthur.
Arthur, 67, of 11221 Rockridge Road in Lakeland, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty when sheriff's deputies caught up with him at Tractor Farm Supply store on U.S. 98 North.
"We weren't going to let him go," Pribe said. "We were going to keep following him."
After he was arrested, Arthur was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center after complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains. He is facing three counts of animal cruelty, the Sheriff's Office said.
He was expected to be booked into the Polk County Jail after being released from the hospital.
The first two kittens were thrown from the truck near Rockridge Road and Trailswood Path while going about 30 mph. Pribe said it appeared they had been thrown from the driver's side. One of the kittens was immediately run over by Arthur's truck and the second, which has not been found, is thought to have run into a wooded area, reports said.
The third kitten, which was thrown from the passenger window, was tossed near Rockridge Road and Woods Trail, bouncing onto the shoulder of the road. That kitten survived and was taken to Polk County Animal Control, officials said.
The Sheriff's Office said it received a call about 9:44 a.m. Wednesday that kittens were being thrown from a moving vehicle in North Lakeland.
Pribe and Reynolds followed Arthur closely. Pribe said Arthur knew they were tailing him because he sped up and started taking back roads.
The two friends followed Arthur through a series of twists and turns off Socrum Loop Road, until he decided to turn around in the parking lot of a vacant business. That's where Pribe first saw Arthur's face, with a cigar hanging out of his mouth and wearing a dingy hat, she said.
She wanted to yell at him, but Reynolds told her it probably wasn't the best idea while they were on the secluded back road, she said.
They followed him back to U.S. 98 North, where he turned into the supply store. She parked away from the store and called 911 for a second time and waited for deputies to arrive, she said.
"Before we knew it, there were lots of police cars all over the place," she said.
Inside the pickup, deputies found a sign that said "Free Kittens - 1 Mile," the Sheriff's Office said.
Pribe said she overheard Arthur talking to deputies, denying that he threw the kittens from the truck.
The surviving solid black kitten with blue eyes was evaluated and cleared at the county's Animal Control station Wednesday morning, said Donna Wood, a spokeswoman for the Polk County Sheriff's Office. By the end of the day, the kitten had been placed in foster care until the case is finalized.
"It doesn't look like she was seriously injured, but she is a little shook up and very scared," Wood said.
[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. ]
Sheesh, can’t they just drown them in a sack? (flame suit on)
He’s just doing his part to help fight global warming. Guy should be given carbon credits for his efforts.
The third kitten has been named Frisbee.
"Before we knew it, there were lots of police cars all over the place," she said.......
Why can't we get this kind of action trying to apprehend ILLEGALS!
Set the defib to high and put the pads on his nuts...
Is the net effect any different when we slaughter cows, chickens, fish, etc.? It’s all cruel, isn’t it, and they all die?
I believe we should shun people who do things we disagree with when it comes to animals, but to make it illegal is wrong. If someone hits a deer, making roadkill, as these kittens would become, then should we also not get such people for “involuntary animal slaughter?”
Animals can have no rights and they can never respect the rights of others.
Poor kitties. I hope the judge sends this jerk to prison for 50 years.
Poor kitties.
Maybe I'll just kick this guy in the nuts and see if a jury convicts me.....
In my world - There is no place for cuelty for the sake of cruelty. In my world - There is a place for killing for food. In my world - there is a place for kicking a guy in the nuts for throwing kittens from a truck window.
VERDICT: Not Guilty ... the guy deserved to get kicked in the nuts.
I knew that kitten home deivery service wouldn’t catch on.
If they were kittens, they are about as aware as a cockroach.
The net effect when you randomly shoot someone in the head for no reason is the same as when you shoot someone in the head in an act of legitimate self-defense: there is someone shot in the head.
The intent makes one action right and the other wrong.
I believe we should shun people who do things we disagree with when it comes to animals, but to make it illegal is wrong.
Why? What is the underlying reasoning to this blanket assertion?
If someone hits a deer, making roadkill, as these kittens would become, then should we also not get such people for “involuntary animal slaughter?”
That's laughably silly for two reasons:
(1) You would not be charged with involuntary manslaughter if someone threw a human child under your wheels before you could stop. There is no culpability on your part but on the part of the thrower.
(2) The life of an animal has value but not as much value as a human being. Your argument is basically that animals should be treated either as full equals of human beings or as completely inanimate objects. That's a false dichotomy.
Animals can have no rights and they can never respect the rights of others.
The trucker is not being charged on civil rights grounds. No imagined right of any animal is being asserted here.
If he didn’t want the kittens, he should have taken them to the pound where they could have been adopted or put to sleep humanely. I wouldn’t even object if he humanely killed them himself. I DO object to him throwing them from a car. It is needlessly cruel. At a minimum, I don’t want this pond scum owning another animal.
That doesn’t make sense.
My BIL recently called 911 as some guy was literally swerving from one side of the road to the other while driving and the "person" on the other end said "we'll probably never catch them sir", suggesting it wasn't even worth the effort. I guess it doesn't help there budget for the coming year so why bother...
If We The People make laws that say animals have rights,and we have, then animals have rights. Don't like it, get yourself elected and get the law changed.
Beyond that, what the hell is the matter with you?
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