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.

[Bacon Man]

Still no dice.

[green team 1999]

get your tank of helium,be prepare (of course the helium is for ballons,for the kids,official version)

[green team 1999]

I've got a miserable cold

get well soon,

[green team 1999]

rush limbaugh have done some real good ones,much to the suffering of the liberals

[stlnative]

That is a beautifully marked cat! (what kind is it?)

[iconoclast]

I luv cats, they taste like chicken..

Liar, liar, pants on fire they taste like muskrat! ;o)

[Quix]

Chinese have a banquet dish called . . . what is it . . . I think . . .

dragon and tiger something or other.

It's composed of snake and whatever hapless alley cat was catachable.

It's OK. Not that special, to me--and certainly not worth all the potential scratches. The cat for one banquet was tied up with a stout wire before the appointed time. He was none too happy about it.

As I recall, the dish was more a soup than a sauce based dish. And the soup was a rather thin, watery sort.

I guess the 'dragon' and the 'tiger' were supposed to provide the great taste. Evidently, they didn't know or didn't rise to the occasion.

[Xenalyte]

That is a beautifully marked cat! (what kind is it?)

I'm not sure what you'd call it. I have one just like it, except a bit smaller, and the vet calls her a charcoal tabby. They're mostly VERY dark gray, with the markings in lighter gray (but it looks tan in the pics).

My charcoal tabby Spot is so named because she has a very large circle on each flank - a big target for those Nerf darts.

[vin-one]

well Cat's may taste like muskrat, but muskrat tastes just like chicken

Ha

[stlnative]

Check out these kittens I found on Yahoo today (called a Pallas Cat)


Five Pallas' kittens snuggle with each other in a cat bed Friday morning, May 16, 2003, in the Children's Zoo Nursery at the San Diego Zoo. The Zoo's animal care staff stepped in as foster parents to care for a total of six kittens, who were born on May 5, when their mom showed inadequate interest in nursing. The Pallas' kittens, three males and three females, are fed a kitten milk replace daily in the Children's Zoo nursery. Guests at the Zoo can see the young siblings conduct a host of behaviors including climbing, playing and cuddling.

Adult Pallas Cat (kinda looks like a monkey)

About the Pallas Cat

[TxKid]

[Constitution Day]

BTTT