What would you do if the person next to you was about to kill your cat? What if that person was the person you lived with? Note: please forgive my slight insensitivity. The stories are tragic but they do throw up questions and they get my imagination going.
Photo by Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix) under a creative commons license on Flickr.
There are a couple of stories of brave women attacking their husbands to protect a cat.
Siberia, Russia
In one, a woman in Siberia, Russia, stabbed her husband three times in the chest as he prepared to kill a rescued cat with a fork. They had both been drinking (Vodka?) and had been arguing over the cat before the violence started. They live on a farm and the cat had wandered in looking for a home. She took the cat in. The husband wanted rid of it.
So, what do you think about that? I can see how this could happen. Personally, I applaud the woman although she went too far but perhaps she had no choice. I am not suggesting it is a good thing to kill a would-be cat killer – not at all. It is probable that alcohol played its usual role in raising the temperature of the argument and emotions.
However, personally, I would not be able to stand by and let a person kill a cat that I had taken in. In fact, any cat, one I knew or not. I would have tried to stop the person without resorting to violence. That would probably mean forcibly restraining the person if, as is likely, they would not listen to a reasoned argument. However, avoiding violence would seem to have been impossible for the women in question. One resorted to the ultimate form of violence: murder or manslaughter.
Trying to restrain a person intent on killing a cat is likely to lead to some sort of violence no matter much you want to avoid it. It can difficult to control what happens next. However, it is a risk that I am prepared to take.
Texas, USA
In the other story, a Texas woman, shot her husband in the abdomen to stop him shooting one of their cats. She was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It happened in their back yard. I don’t think alcohol was involved. This appears to have been a desperate and controlled act to stop a man killing a cat. He appears not to have been that badly hurt because he was discharged from hospital the same day. He may have discharged himself as he made his way home in his hospital gown! She locked him out of the family home when he arrived. He won’t comment – no surprise there, then.
Once again I have to confess to liking this woman. Both these women showed real courage and a love of cats. That makes them good in my book.
What Would You Do?
I am going to be cheeky enough to ask what you would do under the circumstances that these two women found themselves. Would you:
- Shoot him dead (this would have to be in America because hardly anyone has a gun in Europe)
- Shoot him in a place that disabled him (as above)
- Stab him in a place that disabled him
- Hit him over the head with a frying pan or roller or bottle of champagne
- Kicked him hard in the b*lls!
- Threaten calling the police
- Run out of the house screaming
- Do nothing but grab some more booze
- Threaten divorce (if you’re married, of course)
- Something far better than any of these crude and insensitive suggestions.
Barbara is right and in my opinion anyone who doesn’t feel angry enough to want revenge on a cat abuser has proved they are the cold hearted cruel monster for not caring about another beings suffering.
Dale/Troll, it’s quite normal for a well adjusted, adult human being to feel the need to protect the vulnerable, be it a child, an old person or an animal or as we were discussing on this cat orientated site a much loved cat I think you’ll find that any of us would take whatever steps necessary to stop abuse or ill treatment of animals or humans, if that makes us sociopaths or psychopaths then I’m proud to be amongst their company. Far better than to be an empty vessel like yourself banging away a load of inflammatory rubbish. How do any of us know how we would react until it happens, we might think we would crawl away frightened to fight when in reality we’d fight tooth and nail to save a cat/child/person, or we might think we would fight but in reality we might run away too scared, this discussion was merely that, a discussion on how we think we would react, if you don’t like reading our comments, or if they make you feel like posting comments to provoke us, then surely the best thing for you to do is to avoid visiting Pictures of Cats and leave us to enjoy it in peace.
So do you own this site now Dale?
Michael decides when no more can be said.
You are pathetic, I suggest you go and look in your own mirror.
More certainly can be said Dale by me and I bet by other supporters of Ruth.
Dale you are a moron.It’s only natural when we read of some cruel bacteria wanting to harm an animal that we wish ill on them,we are HUMAN therefore we are HUMANE,well some of us are anyway.
Go and unring your own bell Dale and sit and watch the scum of the earth do as much damage as they want to without feeling they need just punishment,you are apparently one of their ilk.
You are not fit to lick the shoes of the people here on PoC.
I’d like to add my own suggestion to the ones above,killing is too good for animal abusers or child abusers or old folk abusers,they need the full force of the law at them…….after I’d finished giving them a taste of their own medicine of course.
Dale don’t you know that animal abusers almost always go on to abuse children or vulnerable people once their satisfaction of abusing animals has dulled?
Abusing ANY living creature is wrong and the people who do that are are most definately sociopaths, psychopaths, or maybe we should just call them cold hearted cruel monsters!
Ruth, then I’d like for all of you that have threatened to harm, torture, and kill humans to explain why you have gone on to want to do those things. Certainly you all have, and know how to use, the mirrors in your homes. You might want to look at your own sociopathic and psychopathic qualities and behaviors before you begin to understand those of any others. Across the board, you can go to any discussion on cats, and the very first people on the internet to always threaten to harm and kill humans are those that admire their pets more than humans. That’s sociopathic. That’s psychopathic. It is only people who devalue humans that harm humans. Whether you want to look in your own mirrors or not. Or maybe we should just call you a cold-hearted cruel monster and leave it at that. You have certainly proved that. Nothing more can be said by you that can change that. You can’t unring a bell.
Sorry Dale you are wrong. You are so wrong. Ruth is a fine person and a million miles from being a sociopath. She just sees the complete picture namely that people are far more destructive than the domestic cat. That is the point we are making. Ruth is more sane than anyone I know. Sociopaths and psychopaths are clinically insane.
What we are saying is that we would defend a companion cat from the nasty, aggressive and psychopathic behavior of a person who would kill that cat for no reason. That is a fine thing to do as far as I am concerned. And it takes a lot of courage.
Dale, I thank you for visiting the site etc., but you are not open minded enough to see that some people see all of God’s creation as having rights to live and to have a certain standard of life. You see creation as people who have rights over animals. This harks back to the 18th century. It is unenlightened and poor thinking.
Please don’t insult Ruth again. If you do it will be the last comment you make on this website.
You people might want to look up the terms sociopath and psychopath. Neither of which are applicable to inflicting harm on animals, only humans.
I hope you are not implying that the women who hurt/killed their spouses are psychopaths or sociopaths. I am not sure I understand your comment.
Pull out my cellphone and start videoing. That would stop anyone.
Clever idea. Very non-violent. Mind you, I can remember bringing a camera out of the house to photograph a criminal as he ransacked through a car opposite, which he had broken into. He knew I was there and carried on.
Yup, I think instinct and blind rage would take over, I’d knock him or her into next week with a heavy and blunt object around the head, if it was a man I’d try to kick him in the g**lies for good measure, if it was a woman I’d go for the tummy. Then if I was still standing I’d grab the cat and my phone and leg it.
LOL… great comment 😉
I’d grab something heavy and whack him round his ears with it whilst kicking him in his crown jewels and while he was bent double and his head was ringing I’d grab the cat and go to a neighbours and phone the Police and the RSPCA.
If I lived in the USA and had a gun I probably would shoot him, but I don’t know for sure as I’ve never held a gun in my hand in my life.
LOL. A woman after my own heart 😉
I love Dee’s remark. I would only add, screaming at the top of my lungs throwing arms in the air to distract, before grabbing, and running. Still screaming of course. Poor cat. The screaming might be worse than the slaughter. Not really.
It would be impossible for any sensitive person to not do something, anything to stop the madness.
Snatch up kitty, shove the heaviest and closest object as a distraction, and RUN!
Good one Dee. Smart and safe solution. More subtle than the two actual cases and my suggestions.
Yes man
Whatever you do it must be quick and effective which obviously excludes reasoning or verbal threats alone. A combination of an extremely loud command and threatening body language immediately followed up by physical restraint. This may divert the violence to yourself so you can use physical force to defend yourself. You’d better have some kind of weapon to hand but that takes time. Best thing is to try to avoid this situation in the first place. look for or listen for warnings and threats against the animal.