Cops: Trap kills cat; man faces animal cruelty charge

Times Leader ^ | February 10, 2010 | Edward Lewis

[myknowledge]

JENKINS TWP. – A man is facing an animal cruelty charge for allegedly killing a cat because it urinated on a wood pile, according to arrest records.

Township police allege David Robbins, 60, of Heather Highlands, used a trap to kill the cat on Dec. 22.

Robbins could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Police filed the charge, a first-degree misdemeanor that was mailed to Robbins, at the office of District Judge Diana Malast in Plains Township on Monday.

[wardaddy]

lol....i love a good laugh here...that was good

the only sorta puppies I smother are the elusive sweater breed and I pursue them with a vengence...the softer and cuddlier...the better.

[HiTech RedNeck]

u don’t smother kittenz cauz they scratch

[ltc8k6]

http://media.midwayusa.com/ProductImages/Large/135961.jpg

or these if your .22 doesn’t like the heavy bullet.

http://www.jgsales.com/images/1%2022LR%20Aguila%20A269%2040GR%20Subsonic%205001457.jpg

[GovernmentShrinker]

All my 4 cats are spayed/neutered, have current rabies vaccinations, and wear collars with tags to prove it, and they all roam freely outside. The most recently deceased of my cats was 21 years old when he died, and was still roaming the garden happily the day before he died.

Any cat owner who ever takes their cat to a vet is getting it vaccinated for rabies. I’ve never known any vet who would do anything — not even a simple exam — without making sure the cat has a current rabies vaccine or giving it one, and I think most if not all states have laws requiring that. If you never take your cat to the vet and you also let it roam outside, it’s not clear that you’re a “cat owner” — if ownership of the cat was ever disputed, you’d be hard-pressed to show that your relationship to the cat was anything but a person who feeds the stray and sometimes lets it in your home.

Neutered male cats don’t have that “special” smell to their urine. As far as I know, everywhere that it’s legal to let cats roam free, it’s contingent on thier being spayed/neutered as well as vaccinated, and that’s how it should be.

[myknowledge]

Yes, with 90 lb of pressure.

[wardaddy]

hmmm..you left an opening there but given the AM is probably a 60 year old grandma who’s husband is asleep I’m gonna pass

last banning I got was a year’s worth

[HiTech RedNeck]

I got a purportedly neutered tom who must have a third hidden ball, because he STINKS.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Susan Hoffman and Jen Gable told police their dog was barking, and they went outside to see why. They found a cat thrashing in a trap that was allegedly set by Robbins on his porch. The cat died as Hoffman and Gable attempted to free it from the trap. . . . Police said the Pennsylvania Game Commission identified the device used to kill the cat as a type of trap primarily used to trap water animals such as beavers. Police learned the trap is manufactured to kill and closes with 90 pounds of pressure.

No, he didn't "do the right thing". He didn't "trap" it, he killed it, and he killed it very inhumanely. He also used a trap that could just as easily have killed some other animal -- pet or wild. If there wasn't a better way to keep the cat from peeing on his wood pile, he could and should have caught or trapped it using a humane method, and a method that couldn't inadvertently kill some other creature.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Police filed the charge, a first-degree misdemeanor that was mailed to Robbins, at the office of District Judge Diana Malast in Plains Township on Monday.

"Yes Ma'am, your honor, that will be Malast time to catch a stray cat in a beaver trap."

[GovernmentShrinker]

Hmmm, I suppose you may have gotten a very rare cat with that feature. I take it you’ve had him checked for a urinary tract infection? That can sometimes cause a strong odor.

[TheBattman]

Requirements regarding spay/neutering - how do you enforce that? Most free-roaming cats (pets or not) are not, in my experience.

As far as male cats who are neutered not having that “special” smell. It might not be as potent, but cat pee is still EXTREMELY irritating to my nose. If I am around it much, it makes my ill.

And I firmly believe that you are in the minority regarding cat ownership. I know quite a few cat owners. I would say less than 2 out of 10 take their cats to the vet. The percentage goes up for full-time house cats.

There are some pretty big fines for letting your pet roam freely here where we live. Not many dogs running free (in fact, haven’t seen any in the 16 months we have been here). But lots of cats.

Still - personally, I just can’t grasp allowing a pet to roam freely outside. Dogs - letting them out into a fenced yard or run for extended times - sure. But cats don’t respect fences (or property lines - or, apparently, wood piles that belong to others).

[HiTech RedNeck]

The vet checked. No bacteria. Cat does not complain at the litter box. Cat is healthy enough, in fact, to beat up the other tom who is half again his weight.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The cat I grew up with went to the vet for more or less annual rabies shots. This cat was allowed the outdoors and she lived about thirteen years (my dad accidentally backed the car over her, and she didn’t hear it because she was deaf). Now all my kittehs stay inside. Too many cruel people out there.

[healy61]

I don’t believe that a cat marks with urine. I think it comes from a gland, and they squirt it on whatever. It is difficult to wash off, but can be. It is sprayed on windows, walls, cars, trees, flowers, and even the sidewalk.

[70times7]

Dead Cat Story -
When I was in my late teens (more years ago than I care to consider) I was having a few beers and playing frisbee at a friends house. The frisbee landed next to the road and when I went to retrieve it a friendly cat approached me. I was petting and scratching its head when a trash truck rumbled by. The cat was startled and bolted - right under the rear tandems. I don't know what the cat's name was, but after that “Popeye” would have fit. The street was a dead-end. When the truck returned the driver stopped to say he was sorry and that there was nothing he could have done. We put the cat into the trash truck and went to look for the owner. We found her, and while I was trying to gently explain that we took care of her cat and that it was better that she did not see it in it's end condition, my buddy speaks right up and says “yeah, the trash truck was going by so we tossed it in”. I still cringe and laugh at the same time when I think of that one.

[Greysard]

.22LR Aguila SSS requires an uncommon twist rate. 1-16" does not stabilize them. I have some, they are great as long as you don't need any accuracy whatsoever :-) At 40 yards they will hit the target sideways. You will be better off with CCI CB Long - this is super-quiet and reasonably accurate; at 50 yards the bullet drop is about 2.5" compared to a regular speed round.

[ltc8k6]

I already covered the heavy bullet problem...

CB’s are too weak, imo.

[packrat35]

When I lived in the country, that’s how you handled mad dogs. They turn on you and they die.

Also, shot many trying to kill my chickens. I couldn’t tell you how many dogs I killed. Been living in the city past 20 years and can’t do it that way here.

[at bay]

Feral cats are everyone’s responsibility. Just because an irresponsible person takes a cat into the country thinking it will fend for itself, the cat, an animal we bred to domestication, is not at fault and must be cared for.

At the very least, they need to be spay/neutered and fed on a regular basis.

[myknowledge]

To Robbins, killing cats peeing on his firewood would send a painful message to their owners.