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cold_reality · Oct 9, 2004, 07:15 PM

I was sittin in my apartment last night watching TV not doin anything really and heard some sounds coming from outside. It was kinda like a rattle when you shake one of those chain link fences. I didn't think much of it so I ignored it at first. After 5-10 minutes it was still going so I got up and went to investigate. I didn't know what I expected to find. A raccoon in the trash or somethin...it turned out to be a cat stuck on the fence.

The closer I got the more I could tell that its head wasn't stuck in one of the holes. This cat was tied to the fence with something.
I got up to the cat and was trying to calm it down...the thing was just freakin and I was trying not to get scratched. But I couldn't get it off and I couldn't find what was holding it in place. So I reached down by its neck and when I felt under the fur my fingers touched somethin plastic.

No prob I thought. Must be a cat collar that got caught on one of the links, cut off collar and that'll be that. Grabbed my pocket knife out and held the animal down as gently as possible (by now the poor thing was exhausted so it wasn't nearly as hard as before) and slid my blade under the strap and cut it.

Cat fell down and just lay there. Breathing but not moving. I looked down at what I had cut and it wasn't a cat collar. It was a ZIPTIE!

some sick f*cker decided to tie a cat to a fence by its neck with a f*cking ziptie!

I don't have a clue how long the thing had been there. God what the f*ck is wrong with people?!

alligator · Oct 9, 2004, 07:39 PM

My friend is a vet. You'd be suprised what people do. She testifies in cases where people have intentionally hurt animals.

Sick, just sick.

qualey2 · Oct 9, 2004, 07:47 PM

If you ever find the person zip tie the to the fence and leave them there.

mdc · Oct 9, 2004, 08:10 PM

exactly! zip tie the f****r who did this to the fence.

george68 · Oct 9, 2004, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by qualey2:
If you ever find the person zip tie the to the fence and leave them there.

Exactly.

Spliff · Oct 9, 2004, 08:43 PM

The real question is, why would someone do this in the first place? This sort of thing is so common. In my city, every week it seems there is a story about animal cruelty.

wdlove · Oct 10, 2004, 06:22 PM

Thank you for being a good samaritan. I just don't know what goes through some peoples mind. They will someday have to answer for their cruelty. Is the cat OK?

Joshua · Oct 10, 2004, 06:29 PM

Report it to the police, and contact the local animal welfare group and let them know what happened. If somebody did it to that cat, they've probably done it to others in your neighborhood. My brother recently prosecuted a couple guys who had been abusing their own animals, and the animal rights groups were very helpful.

Mrjinglesusa · Oct 10, 2004, 07:45 PM

Scary thing is, a lot of studies have shown that animal cruelty usually leads to greater violence later in life (i.e. against people).

TheBadgerHunter · Oct 10, 2004, 07:45 PM

Meh.

ThinkInsane · Oct 10, 2004, 07:49 PM

Contact the local unit of the ASPCA. They have there own animal cruelty investigators, with full police powers. It'll be a much higher priority to them than the local cops, although most times the local cops turn the case over to them directly.

DeathMan · Oct 10, 2004, 07:52 PM

Originally posted by TheBadgerHunter:
Meh.

Thats sort of how I feel. I'm not anti animal, but I'm definitely no animal lover. The only difference between what is happening to these animals, and what happens to children every day in neighborhoods all over the world, is that this is so flagrant. I do recognize, however, if it was a little kid, you'd be calling for the marooning of the "guardian" in the same way. And I imagine there would be a baseball bat involved. I'm surprised no one has mentioned one thus far.

I think we need some perspective.

voyageur · Oct 10, 2004, 08:21 PM

I'm glad you were in time to save the cat, cold_reality. Perhaps the animal's tormenters even witnessed you rescuing it, and it made them think twice about doing such a thing again. It can shake one's faith in one's fellow humans when one personally witnesses this kind of dliberate cruelty, either against another human or against an animal. I think in many cases the perpetrator has probably been mistreated him/herself, and feels the twisted urge to inflict pain on others.

DeathMan · Oct 10, 2004, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by voyageur:
I think in many cases the perpetrator has probably been mistreated him/herself, and feels the twisted urge to inflict pain on others.

This is the key issue here. Not that it was an kitten, but that it was a living thing that someone needed to hurt for some unknown and probably dubious reason. Or it was some drunk kids messing around. Either way, I'd rather it was a kitten and not some baby in a dumpster.

DeathToWindows · Oct 11, 2004, 09:25 AM

Ziptie their testicles to the fence.

cold_reality · Oct 11, 2004, 10:07 AM

Originally posted by wdlove:
Thank you for being a good samaritan. I just don't know what goes through some peoples mind. They will someday have to answer for their cruelty. Is the cat OK?

Yeah, I did take the guy to the a vet and have him checked out, he was fine. I put him in an animal shelter, it sucks but no pets in my building.
After I told this lady who was working there the story that brought my there she actually seemed like she would take the cat...who knows, I'm just glad that this animal didn't die tied to a fence.

Cody Dawg · Oct 11, 2004, 10:37 AM

Are you POSITIVE that the ziptie wasn't being used as a collar?

I know it sounds strange, but we saw that a neighbor had used a ziptie as a collar with their cat. They could not find a collar that would fit their cat was their reasoning.

I'm not doubting that it was out-and-out animal cruelty, but I'm just trying to assume the best of people, not the worst.

Poor kitty...what happened to him in the end? I didn't see that?

xi_hyperon · Oct 11, 2004, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by DeathMan:
I think we need some perspective.

Yeah, every time someone posts something about animal cruelty, someone else comes along and asks for perspective. First, no one is marginalizing the damage caused by child abuse simply because they are outraged at an act of animal cruelty. Secondly - and I always bring this point up - often those who take pleasure in torturing animals eventually tire and turn their insidious tendencies towards other humans.

Something to think about.

i_rooster · Oct 11, 2004, 10:47 AM

Dont forget people are animals too.

Cody Dawg · Oct 11, 2004, 10:56 AM

Yeah, I did take the guy to the a vet and have him checked out, he was fine. I put him in an animal shelter, it sucks but no pets in my building.
After I told this lady who was working there the story that brought my there she actually seemed like she would take the cat...who knows, I'm just glad that this animal didn't die tied to a fence.

nredman · Oct 11, 2004, 12:26 PM

people suck, i'm glad you helped the cat out though as i think most would. being a cat owner i can't even imagine being so cruel. i think its mean if i don't play with my cat alittle everyday, something like this is just unreal to me.

vexborg · Oct 11, 2004, 02:30 PM

Originally posted by cold_reality:
Yeah, I did take the guy to the a vet and have him checked out, he was fine. I put him in an animal shelter, it sucks but no pets in my building.
After I told this lady who was working there the story that brought my there she actually seemed like she would take the cat...who knows, I'm just glad that this animal didn't die tied to a fence.

Well done! You have definately done a great deed - if my girlfriend and I (which have 4 cats in the house) have been living near by, we would have invited you out for a dinner and have taken the cat into our lifes.

That would be the least we could do! I'm thanking you for helping an animal in need!

ambush · Oct 11, 2004, 02:33 PM

we're not born cruel... we become cruel...

Twilly Spree · Oct 11, 2004, 02:40 PM

Poor thing.

Can't say what I'd do if I found out who did that but I don't think it would be strictly legal.

I hope the cat is OK and must say you are a cool guy for saving the cat.

Cody Dawg · Oct 11, 2004, 02:50 PM

Hey, heads up to you:

I know it's probably an extremely small risk, but you need to make sure that before that cat goes anywhere (from that shelter) that they observe it and make sure it doesn't have rabies. 10 days observation is good enough.

Chances are very small, but the fastest rising population for rabies is household cats.

I was scratched and bitten by a wild cat back in June and I had to get 24 rabies shots. Very expensive, but I had health insurance that took care of it (runs about $2000 through a hospital and $400 through local health department). The shots themselves are not that bad. It is just a hassle.

Oh, and a little thing called rabies -- always fatal in humans and takes up to 1 year to appear.

RAILhead · Oct 11, 2004, 03:00 PM

I hate it when people abuse animals, especially cats. A friend and I once came on some kids kicking a cat around (back in my Freshman High School days, walking home), and we proceeded to beat the living crap out of them. All three of them. That's just a testament of how stupid they were as we were/are both over 6 ft 220-240 lbs and they thought they had a chance. never screw with bulky pissed-off animal-lovers.

Needless to say, my friend took the cat home and she lived with them until she eventually dies of old age. As for the guys, one lost a couple of teeth, one peed blood for a week, and all of them had severe headaches. Oh, and we were fined for opening our cans of whooparse on them, but the judge reduced them to $1 a piece because he said he would have done the same thing when he was our age.

It was a good day.

...mem-ories...

Maury

Twilly Spree · Oct 11, 2004, 03:00 PM

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:

Oh, and a little thing called rabies -- always fatal in humans and takes up to 1 year to appear.

On rabies: Get a vaccine shot already (speaking to those who haven't been bitten already) and you'll be immune for at least 10 years. Sure beats 20+ shots after you've been bitten

Twilly Spree · Oct 11, 2004, 03:02 PM

Originally posted by RAILhead:
I hate it when people abuse animals, especially cats. A friend and I once came on some kids kicking a cat around (back in my Freshman High School days, walking home), and we proceeded to beat the living crap out of them. All three of them. That's just a testament of how stupid they were as we were/are both over 6 ft 220-240 lbs and they thought they had a chance. never screw with bulky pissed-off animal-lovers.

Needless to say, my friend took the cat home and she lived with them until she eventually dies of old age. As for the guys, one lost a couple of teeth, one peed blood for a week, and all of them had severe headaches. Oh, and we were fined for opening our cans of whooparse on them, but the judge reduced them to $1 a piece because he said he would have done the same thing when he was our age.

It was a good day.

...mem-ories...

Maury

Thanks Maury, that story warms my heart. Justice to those who do wrong

ambush · Oct 11, 2004, 03:14 PM

Originally posted by RAILhead:
maury beating people badly

how .... republican of you.

RAILhead · Oct 11, 2004, 03:15 PM

Originally posted by ambush:
sorry but it's not a very intelligent thing to do.

What, taking the cat home? It made perfect sense!

Maury

UR-20 · Oct 11, 2004, 04:52 PM

My grandma told me a story where she saw some highschool kids picking on a cat. She called the police, and as it turned out they were part of the football team, so the coach showed up with a freaking lawyer to get them off!!

She saw them again in a McDonald's like a week later, and when they recognized her, one made a comment to his friend "Hey Paul killed any cats lately?" God people suck sometimes!