Killing Would-be Cat Killers
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:
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- 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.