Don’t do DIY declawing. Don’t even begin to dream about it. Declawing is bad enough when carried out by a vet. Even they screw up, which compounds the immorality of such an unjustifiable process.
However, it appears that one idiot, Eric Felipe Gaskin, living in the District of Columbia was so driven to declaw his daughter’s two eight-week old kittens, Simba and Pumba that he decided to do it himself. Perhaps he thought he’d save a few bucks.
You have probably read about the outcome. He crushed and ruined the kittens’ paws because they struggled to get free and he continued. They couldn’t walk and the damage could not be repaired by emergency vets. They were euthanised. Let’s not dwell on the horror and sadness.
I have not learnt who reported him to the police. It would be interesting to know who did it – his wife?
Fortunately, he has convicted of animal cruelty (a felony – a serious crime) by a DC criminal court. His sentence included 180 days imprisonment and being banned from keeping pets for 3 years (no where near long enough, as far as I am concerned). He has to have a mental health assessment!
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This is surely the most grizzly example of:
- a total lack of empathy for animals. Treating them as objects;
- a total lack of thought about the pain he would cause. Gaskin is emotionally dead;
- a total abdication of his parental responsibilities by fatally injuring his daughter’s kittens and teaching her by example that it is acceptable to declaw and brutally mutilate cats;
Perhaps he has a drink problem? I have no idea. The reason why I suggest this is because it is unbelievable that a sane person could try and do what he did unless his mind was unbalanced. Or he was just so conditioned about treating animals as objects and so conditioned to believing that declawing was acceptable that he saw no problem in doing it.
In fact, he seems to be one of those individuals who believes that declawing is cutting off the claws. It is not, although that is bad enough. To anyone else who has the same misconceptions, this is what is removed…
I suppose we won’t know the outcome of his mental health assessment. However, the fact that he was tried for animal cruelty and the judge also sentenced him to:
- attend a parenting skills group and
- 40 hours community service,
..indicates that he is not deranged. Accordingly, I have to conclude that Gaskin is a evil monster who should be banned from keeping animals for the remainder of his life. Oh..and maybe someone should take a Stanley knife to his fingers.
That really is terrible!
Thanks for that Derek. Shocking. I just did a short post on Craigslist’s pet advertising policy, which I think does not prevent abuses.
What no one knows is that Mr. Gaskin purchased the 2 kittens from convicted animal abusers on Craigslist & the Humane Society Control officer was aware of this fact but chose 2 bury it.
I have the same fears. I am sure that the criminality that we hear about in the home is only the tip of the iceberg. In this case, his sister shopped him. However, in nearly every act of cat cruelty behind closed doors, the perpetrator gets away with it for any number of reasons.
I get scared when I hear what depravity the human race will sink to with regards animal cruelty I get even more scared when I think of what horrors animals go through behind closed doors that no one ever finds out about 🙁 I despise this creature he is evil when I think of those babies struggling and him carrying on with his vile, evil deed I could cry but look at his smug face don’t you think that some people really feel they have the right to do whatever they choose to whom or whatever they choose to do it to?
He should be made to know the pain he put those kittens through he should be made to feel the same terror en eye for an eye.
Yes Marc he looks like a filthy disgusting burger to me too, a flesh filled one, not a veggie one of course!