Posted on 12/30/2004 6:09:34 AM PST by aculeus
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Two Wal-Mart employees who police say followed a manager's orders to shoot and kill a stray cat have been charged with federal animal cruelty.
The men, both assistant managers at the Supercenter, were arrested and released after a court appearance Wednesday. Christopher Anderson, 29, and Jeffrey Hardin, 21, told police the store's manager ordered them to get rid of the animal that was living in a storage trailer behind their store.
All managers potentially involved in the incident have been suspended without pay pending an internal investigation and could be fired, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber.
"We were outraged when we learned of this incident. This kind of action is completely inconsistent with the way we do business," she said.
A truck driver who reported the incident said he saw store employees placing what he believed to be a dead animal in shrink wrap a day after he heard workers joking about shooting the cat.
Store manager Darrel Weitzel told police he had told some of his employees to get a gun and get rid of the cat after attempts to coax it from the trailer failed, according to a police report.
Anderson and Hardin were scheduled for a hearing Jan. 4.
AP-ES-12-30-04 0538EST
Huh?
In a related item, the Chinese restaurant next door has offered to take custody of the cat.......................
He told me he shoots every stray cat he comes across in the woods. It is simply good management. Now stray cats in the city might do more good than harm.
Company policy states only illegal alliens are allowed to shoot cats.
I never heard of a "federal animal cruelty" charge, either.
That said, this was a mean, trashy way to deal with a stray kitty. The proper thing to have done would have been to contact the local rescue groups, humane society or animal control agency.
That's ridiculous.
Someone get me a bag before I barf (again).
I guess the Nurenburg defense of "just following orders" doesn't work at Wal-Mart, either.
You'd think the Wal-Mart manager would have liked the rodent control in outdoor storage trailer.
Like SUV stories if it was at a Target or Costco it may not have made the national wires.
You're kidding right?
My reaction too.
LOL
The only good cat is a dead cat. Just think of all the birds the employee who shot the cat saved. Yeah, what about the poor birds, you environmentalist wackos?
Putting people in jail for killing animals is just plain nuts.
Well, given that the Feds are animals, it makes sense there is a law preventing cruelty to them.
has anyone seen Sylvester the Cat.....
The odd thing is, animal control would have killed that cat too in a couple of weeks. The taxpayers pay to have these animals killed, but it is somehow a federal crime for these kids to do it. If they beat it with a waffleball bat for 30 minutes before they killed it, I could see a cruelty charge, but shooting a stray animal should not be a crime.
The cat was violating Health Laws. It should have been arrested and questioned.
Damn right.
That cat needed killin'..........................
Did you ever think, when you eat Chinese
It ain’t pork or chicken but a fat siamese?
Yet the food tastes great, so you don’t complain.
But that’s not chicken in your chicken chow mein.
Seems to me I ordered sweet-and-sour pork
But Garfield’s on my fork.
He’s purrin’ here on my fork.
...
There’s a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon
The place that I eat every day at noon.
They can feed you cat and you’ll never know
Once they wrap it up in dough, boys:
They fry it real crisp in dough.
...
Chou Lin asked if I wanted more
As he was dialin’ up his buddy at the old pet store.
I said "Not today. I lost my appetite.
"There’s two cats in my belly and they want to fight."
I was suckin’ on a Rolaid and a Tums or two
When I swear I heard it mew, boys:
And that is when I knew...
...
There’s a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon
I think I gotta stop eatin’ there at noon.
They say that it’s beef or fish or pork
But it’s purrin’ there on my fork.
There’s a hair-ball on my fork.
Wonder if the manager ever heard of, "an eye for an eye"?
Huh? A silly Fed crime? What pussy Congress passed this crap?
I say shoot the feral cat.
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