Man Arrested For Burning Kitten on Grill

Man arrested for burning kitten on grill July 16, 2002 Posted: 4:03 PM EDT (2003 GMT)

A neighborhood friend of Sherry Scott holds the kitten they named 'Lucky,' in a recent handout photo.

LIBERTY, Missouri (AP) -- A man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly burning a kitten on a barbecue grill as several other people stood around and watched in amusement.

A witness pulled the scorched, 7-week-old tabby from the hot coals, but it was severely injured and had to be put to death, police said.

"They kept saying, `Meow, meow,' and they were poking at it with a stick," said Sherry Scott, who burned her hand grabbing the kitten.

Charles C. Benoit, 24, was charged with animal abuse, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Jim Roberts, spokesman for the Clay County prosecutor's office, said he does not expect anyone else to be charged, because no witnesses could identify the others.

Scott said that on Friday night, she saw 10 or 12 people at the barbecue grill in the courtyard of the apartment complex where she lives. Scott said she asked what they were cooking, and they said it was a cat. She said the group taunted her, daring her to rescue the cat.

She said the group scattered when she threatened to call police. She said she pulled the kitten from where it had been shoved into the coals at the back of the grill. Its tail, whiskers, fur, eyes and throat were scorched.

"I called him Lucky because I thought I got him out of there just in time," she said.

Scott said she and other residents stayed up Friday night trying to nurse the kitten with an eye dropper of milk. But animal control officers decided that because of its respiratory injuries and inability to swallow food, it had to be destroyed.

"If you would have seen him, you would have cried," said Sheri Simpson, one of the residents who helped care for the kitten.

But ALL of my bad feelings were for the HUMAN owner, not the soulless walking meat.

First, I'm appalled, but others have told you that already.

Second, although I'm not religious, it seems you are Christian. You'll forgive me if I paraphrase, but it reminds me of a story from the Bible, and I can't find the passage. But essentially, it says, "Look at these birds, they don't want for food or shelter, God provides for them. Why then do you suppose he will not provide for you?"

Now I'm no theological scholar, but it seems to me that if your God cares for their welfare, perhaps you might too.

Me? You area directing that at me, Laz? Please go back and find my posts - what happened to that animal is very disturbing to me. I just lost my cat Tinker Bell. She came to us one night when we found a dog chasing her. She was all fur and bones and had been dropped off and I don't know how long she had been without eating. The family who had her previously had at least had her "fixed". She still had her collar on. The vet estimated that she was a little over a year old at that time. That was the beginning of 1989.

She went through Hurricane Hugo with me. My Mama's illness and the day that Mama died, Tinker Bell got up on Mama's bed and kissed her and then laid down beside her and stayed there until the people from the funeral home got there.

She mourned my Mama as much as I did, just in a different way. She was my friend.

I am beginning to realize that the phrase "walking meat" is what has everyone in a twitter. Let me put it this way, without the human spirit, a human is nothing more than so much meat. It is the indwelling of this spirit, in the image of God, that makes a human more valuable than any animal. Take away the spirit and the human body is nothing but an empty house. So much compost.

No, animals are not minerals or plants, they have feelings

Animals very much serve psychological function. It may come as a shock but I can believe my dog has a humanlike personality as much as I can suspend disbelief and enjoy the idea that there really is something called Yoda. But in both cases, I know it is just an illusion. But I still enjoy both.

No one is saying that a animal is human, we are saying that they are animals and therefore different then plants and rocks.

The bible verse is one I understand to mean that the "tender mercies" of a wicked man are cruelty. So, this man is wicked. OK, but I don't think that is against the law, evil as it is. If we could define being wicked as a crime then we could lock him up.

Laws are made to restrain wickedness. If this type of base cruelty is not restrained it will only be indicative of the wickedness of our own course society.

But wait, ALL MEN ARE WICKED according to the Bible, varying only in degree. Yikes! What do we do now?

You punish wicked men who perform overt acts of wickedness.

I'll try to focus on my own improvement and let God pass judgement on this kitten cooker.

By passing 'no' judgement, you have passed judgement that it is alright, and showed your own character.

Regarding the 19th century, you weren't there. If my livelyhood depended on the health of my animals, you better believe I would take care of them. Those that keep the oil changed in their cars are equally showing a sense of responsibility for what God has trusted to them. Likewise, those who keep moss off their roof.

It was said that if there were a dog-hell Britain would have been it! Wesley and Whitefield's Christian movement changed that by changing the people's hearts. In America, the ASPCA and other organizations were formed. It had nothing to do with the 'use' value of animals (of which dogs and cats have very little anyway, espically in a city)

Everything is God's, and at our best we treat His creation with respect.

We who do have souls should protect those who do not but do have life!

Animals such as dogs, cats, horses should be treated with kindness.

Even animals we kill to eat should be killed as painlessly as possible.

>Why is The One Kitten such a big deal?
Because what individuals and societies do to the weakest and most vulnerable among them is an indication of the character and nature of those individuals and societies.

Spot on! And that for me is the scariest thing. The existence of one lone nut doing awful things is nothing new; twelve at a party laughing and enjoying the spectacle is scary.

I feel terrible sadness for that kitten's horrific fate. But the more disturbing aspect of this case is not the one kitten, but the twelve adults.

The fact that what this guy did is a crime, however, is absurd!

No, what is absurd is your claim that it shouldn't be a crime to needlessly torture an animal, solely for the purpose of your own personal amusement.

I'm an avid hunter, so don't even start insinuating that I'm one of those left wing nut jobs from PETA. However there is a huge difference between hunting and cruelly torturing an animal.

It takes a very sick mind to find amusement in watching another living creature be burned alive, and if you have problems seeing that, then I have a difficult time seeing how you are any different than the SOBs who actually participated in this. I'm not saying you are guilty, like they are, so don't get all huffy, but if you fail to see that this is wrong, then you are equally capable of committing the same type of cruelty for your own personal amusement. I guess some people just have no conscience.

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