Floating Cat Prank Has Radio Listeners Outraged

newsnet5.com ^ | April 29, 2003 | newsnet5.com

[green team 1999]

Floating Cat Prank Has Radio Listeners Outraged
Animal Protective League, Police Get Involved

POSTED: 4:50 p.m. EDT April 29, 2003

CLEVELAND -- A local radio station wants you to listen, but the stunt some morning disc jockeys pulled has people outraged.

The Animal Protective League responded, and even Cleveland police showed up at the radio station and asked the disc jockeys to stop.

Live On Five Investigator Jodi Brooks reported that 92.3 Extreme Radio said there is an expectation among its listeners to be shocking and to push the envelope, and on Tuesday it started with a contest to win concert tickets.

"We had a bunch of different objects (and were) tying helium balloons to the objects and callers had to guess how many balloons (would) lift the objects off the ground," disc jockey "Rover" said.

The disc jockeys then told listeners they were tying balloons to a cat.

This is what was heard on the radio: "Grab him, grab him! Somebody help me. Oh my God, you guys -- he's flying away! Look out the window. Oh my God, the cat is..."

The drama lasted for 3 ½ hours.

"Where is it? How far off the ground? It's floating away, higher than the parking garage," the disc jockeys said on air.

The APL received more than 100 calls, and police got word, too.

Here is an excerpt from one call to 911: "Hi, I'm listening to the radio, and there's this radio station that had this girl tie balloons to her cat and it's floating around in the air downtown. Is there anything you can do about it? The cat's going to die."

"You want the truth?" Rover said. "No, there was no cat out there. It was all theater of the minds."

On the radio, the prank ended with more creativity.

"Someone out in Medina shot the balloons down," said "Lunchbox," a 92.3 producer. "The cat came to the ground and we recovered it. The cat's OK."

Cleveland police said no charges were filed because the radio station prank did not rise to the level of a crime. Also, as soon as the station was asked to stop, it did.

The APL is now demanding a retraction, admitting the incident was a joke.

The station said it will not offer any type of apology.

The new radio morning team compared themselves to Howard Stern, saying they want a reaction.

for information and discusion only,not for profit etc,etc.

[Tree of Liberty]

THERE WAS NO CAT!

Schrödinger may (or may not) disagree with you.

[Petronski]

Schrödinger may (or may not) disagree with you.

I was going to say that, but I was too uncertain.

[Tree of Liberty]

For the record, dogs were first.

[Tree of Liberty]

lol

[unspun]

More Amazing Cat Coincidences:

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money
we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base bugs in the software
Flash the message, something's out there
Floating in the summer sky
99 cat balloons go by

99 cat balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells it's cat alert
There's something here from somewhere
else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Where 99 cat balloons go by

99 Decision street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 cat balloons go by

99 knights of the air
Ride super high tech jet fighters
Everyone's a super hero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify, and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
99 cat balloons go by

99 dreams I have had 
In every one a cat balloon
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a cat balloon
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a cat balloon
I think of you, and let it go

[July 4th]

Hey, a DJ prank that didn't hurt anyone and was actually humorous! Not too shabby...

[Consort]

[green team 1999]

why peta don`t complain about the russians? hhhmmm

[Sender]

I've owned cats several times with mixed results. Just as with people, some are good and some are bad. My daughter asked us to take her orphan kitty because she couldn't keep it and we did. A year later, the sweet little kitty has ruined all the carpets in our house, driven us crazy by running in the door and hiding, caused a furor with our neighbors, scratched me up when trying to take it to the vet to get it fixed, then came home pregnant and the kittens crapped up the garage.

Now I'm a patient man, and I'll admit that not all cats are bad. But I'm perfectly willing to find out how many balloons this one will take. It will be poetic justice.

[Petronski]

Feral cats will do that. As dangerous as it might be, you MUST get them fixed if you expect even a modicum of decorum.

[SouthernFreebird]

LOL!....... don't take much to outrage people anymore does it.

[green team 1999]

i was thinking,can freerepublic buy a radio station or the members buy shares,a small station but at the center of a big city?

[thrcanbonly1]

I do believe it is called TETHERCAT LOL

[green team 1999]

LOL!....... don't take much to outrage people anymore does it.

remember when rush used the sound of a vacuum to make a point about abortion,even the church complained.

[Xenalyte]

Apparently Radar is the only one here who does NOT find this funny as hell.

[Allegra]

Apparently Radar is the only one here who does NOT find this funny as hell.

I find it funny as hell. I's still laughing.

Is that one of your cats? Or is it from MCHY?

[Grando Calrissian]

From the great Les Nessman.

[Congressman Billybob]

You forgot to mention kitten-golf. The advantage is they don't bounce of the other side of the green. They hit and stick.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, now up FR, "Brave New Moment."

[Darheel]

'can you believe it 100 calls'

At least people care. They're stupid, but they care. lol

[Quix]

I agree with you!

Perhaps it's time for the kitty to get declawed . . .

past it's neck!

I think some cats must gestate in hell. They sure cause plenty of it.