Woman accused of trying to sell 'gothic kittens'

[Diamond45]

I couldn't make this up if I tried...

Pierced kittens removed from home
They were pierced in tail, neck and ear and were to be sold, officials say.

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Pierced_kittens_removed_from_home_12-17-2008.html

One of the officers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Luzerne County said the pierced kittens were being sold as “gothic kittens” on an Internet auction site.

“This is a first,” said Officer Carol Morrison. “It’s unbelievable anybody would do this to kittens.”

Morrison said the investigation began about a week ago when a man from another state noticed “gothic kittens” being sold on eBay. The kittens were also being sold on a pet classified Web site with an attached picture of a pierced kitten.

“You’re not allowed to sell live animals on eBay,” Morrison said.

The man called the phone number that was listed with the kittens, and traveled to the home at 71 Dobson Road, where he saw the pierced kittens, Morrison said.

“He called us and explained what he saw,” Morrison said.

Morrison and two humane officers obtained a search warrant for the home from District Judge John Hasay in Shickshinny at about 3:30 p.m.

Assisted by the state police at Shickshinny, the humane officers traveled to the home located at the end of a long driveway in a remote area of Ross Township.

Humane officers and troopers were inside the home for more than an hour before removing three kittens and a cat just before 5:30 p.m.

“She (the homeowner) thought it was a great idea (to pierce kittens),” Morrison said.

Morrison said charges are likely to be filed against the homeowner.

A dog inside the home was also found with pierced ears, Morrison said.

Morrison said the homeowner has a pet grooming business in the basement of the residence. Several signs advertising “Pawside Parlor” were along Dobson Road and in front of the home.

The kittens also had submission rings placed in their tails, Morrison said, explaining that the rings would prevent blood flow, causing the tails to fall off.

The homeowner and a young girl were inside the home. After humane officers removed the kittens in cages, the window shades were closed and interior lights were turned off.

Morrison said the kittens will be checked by a veterinarian before deciding if the kittens will be placed for adoption.

OK... that's just insane and cruel to the animals. Even though I now consider myself a metal head AND a guy who likes cats.. that's just not right!

 

[Mooseknuckle]

Not condoning this, but I find it funny that some of the same people (people I know, not directed at you Diamond45) who see no problem with docking a dogs tail or ears, or declawing their cats, are so upset over this story....

 

[Jibrille]

Blargh. Body modification really gives me the creeps and that this was done to something that cannot give consent is just insane.

 

[Cheiron]

This pisses me off. I agree with everything said. And I'm against any modifications to animals. No docking, no declawing. Ugh. People need to stop seeing animals as purely property.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Does that mean you're against spaying & neutering?
I have 2 cats that are both declawed and "fixed". They are more than property to me. Gothing up these animals is just beyond fucked.

 

[OrbWeaver]

This was posted in an LJ community I'm a member of. Needless to say, people were pissed off about what was done to these kittens. Poor kitties.

 

[jaimek]

Does that mean you're against spaying & neutering?
I have 2 cats that are both declawed and "fixed". They are more than property to me. Gothing up these animals is just beyond fucked.

Fixing them does them no harm and keeps them from reproducing wildly. Declawing is unnecessary, painful, and only done for the owner's benefit, not the animal's. It's very rare that declawing is ever a medical necessity and should never be performed otherwise.

 

[Diamond45]

Fixing them does them no harm and keeps them from reproducing wildly. Declawing is unnecessary, painful, and only done for the owner's benefit, not the animal's. It's very rare that declawing is ever a medical necessity and should never be performed otherwise.

Unless you don't want any furniture that's not scratched up

 

[J-Dubya 777]

Unless you don't want any furniture that's not scratched up

Or they routinely opening up large gashes behind their ears as one of mine did when he had some kind of ear infection.

I will agree with you Jamie 100% if these were outdoor cats, or indoor/outdoor cats. For the record, both of my cats are strictly indoor cats, no exceptions.

 

[Cheiron]

My cats are indoor too. Too many cars, to many feral cats around. Though there are outdoor cats I feed from time to time.

Spaying/neutering is done, by me, not to control spraying and the like, but because I don't want to add more cats to this world, which has so many without homes.

 

[OrbWeaver]

I'm not a fan of declawing, but there are rare cases, like J-Dubya's, where it may very well be necessary. Otherwise, there are little caps that you can place on your kitty's claws to keep him/her from shredding the furniture. Or climbing your legs.

Sadly, they didn't have them when we got our 10 year old cat declawed as a kitten - and she's the ONLY one we've ever declawed. She was worse than our Siamese ever were.

The cat I adopted is also declawed, but the people who had him prior to me were the ones that did it. Then, after four years, they had a baby and dumped the cat in the basemen, and then wondered why he started spraying. So what do they do? They take him back to the shelter! *rage* But I digress...

 

[jaimek]

Unless you don't want any furniture that's not scratched up

That qualifies as unnecessary and owner's benefit. Get the rubber tips, be more vigilant about making sure they have alternatives to scratch, or don't have cats at all.

And indoor cats do get out. Just for example, if I hadn't been home the night my apartment was broken into, my cats would have disappeared out the open door. If they were declawed, they would have been completely defenseless.

 

[Pellaz]

SoftPaws FTW.


The ones that my veterinarian put on my evil cat's claws lasted about five weeks...which, considering how much this cat liked to scratch, is rather good. I'll probably have some reapplied next week. (You can apply them yourself if your cat is really mellow, but I'm fairly sure my active one wouldn't sit still for it. )

 

[Pellaz]

I never heard about the rubber tips for a cat's claws, but knowing the cats we've had (past and present) those things would be off so fast it wouldn't be worth 1) the trouble of buying them and 2) TRYING to put them on! (we are talking cats you know).

I read about SoftPaws when I was online trying to find a "going price" for having a cat declawed...and they popped up as a better alternative.

I had the vet put the SoftPaws on while my evil cat (tm) was in their office for neutering and to get his shots. They normally charge $25 for applying them, but you can buy a box of six sets (I think) for around $30, which would last most owners around six months.

I was impressed at how long they lasted. At one point I had to lock the cat upstairs in a spare bedroom for a little over a day since I had an overnight guest and the cat would attempt to claw him, and even though the cat tried to claw the door and what's left of the carpet up there, the SoftPaws held firm. Five weeks later and now they've fallen off...due probably to natural claw growth.

 

[jaimek]

The SO's philosophy (and mine too) is that if the cat's in the house, we declaw the FRONT paws only. We leave the back ones on for protection if the cat does get out (only happened once for this particular cat).

It's still incredibly painful and distressing to the cat. Imagine you had the first joints of all your toes hacked off - which is the human equivalent of declawing. You can still function, but you have to completely re-learn how to walk and jump because your sense of balance has just been totally fucked up. It's possible, but if there isn't a medical reason for it, it isn't necessary.

Cats can be trained not to scratch the furniture if you put in a little effort with positive reinforcement, alternatives, and a spray bottle of water. I have a cat-specific cardboard scratchbox that I keep sprinkled with catnip (I just have to vacuum up the shreds every few weeks), and I have a couple of really rough-woven rugs that feel good to kitty claws without unraveling and looking shitty. They use both with gusto, and as a result, they have no desire to scratch anything else I own.

Furthermore, cats that are declawed are a lot more likely to BITE you, because that's the only defense left to them - especially if it was for violent behavior that they were declawed in the first place, because that doesn't solve the problem.

(I was an adoption shelter volunteer for several years and have occasionally suffered the toothful wrath of a declawed cat that couldn't swat me. Hurts a lot more than a swipe, let me tell ya.)

 

[Ruthven]

I think most real goths would be aghast at this jerk.

 

[jaimek]

Yeah, I know about the issues of declawing and how bad it is for the cat. But I'd rather be able to adopt a cat (a stray or a from a shelter) and have it declawed (again, only the front paws) or not adopting the cat and not knowing if the cat will live a full life. As we know many cats (and dogs) are put down due to overcrowding at shelters.

Euthanasia due to overcrowding is completely irrelevant. You know full well what a miserable process declawing is, but you'd still put a cat through that kind of misery rather than make the effort to train it not to scratch, or to keep up with rubber tips. How irresponsible of you. Perhaps you should get a fish instead.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Woah, just DECLAWING a cat is grounds for being branded an irresponsible pet owner, unworthy of owning a cat? That's unnecessarily extreme. Do you know what kind of veternary care Diamond45 gives his pets? How about what kind of food, and how often he feeds them? Are the neglected? Does he beat, kick, or otherwise commit regular acts of violence?

Unless you know the answers to these questions, you can't reasonably accuse someone of being a bad pet owner just because they do one thing that YOU don't like.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

I think that there was a great point brought up that was then burried by the same poster: This isn't much different than docking a tail or ears or anything else that is considered completely "normal". Pretty amazing to see two equal actions being treated so differently.

 

[lady_space]

Unless you don't want any furniture that's not scratched up

That one's easy--don't have cats.

Sorry, but I detest declawing.