RADCLIFFE, GREATER MANCHESTER, UK – NEWS AND COMMENT: Suzanne Bennett, 48, has been described as being mentally ill with the ability to abuse alcohol to the point where she drank three bottles of wine and then stabbed the cat that she said she loved, Poppy, 10 times. She was charged and tried for her crime. She said that she turned the freezer to a high setting to finish off her cat. She said that she has a good and bad side, an angel side and a satanic site. She said that her angel side had told her to get help.
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At the trial her lawyer said that she loved her cats as her children and that they were well looked after and were fed better than her. Judging by her obesity I doubt it. She had no previous convictions but suffered from depression and for the past 10 years she had heard voices in her head.
A veterinarian giving evidence said that Poppy had suffered from chronic pain and psychological trauma from the experience.
She was convicted but her punishment is effectively a slap on the wrist being a fine of £100 and court costs of £95. She has to pay a veterinary bill of £300. I suspect that that is not the full bill.
She was also disqualified from keeping any animal for five years and ordered to complete an 18-month community order. Her mental illness is a major reason why her punishment is relatively light. She obviously needs help and it begs the question as to why society allows mentally ill people to look after cats and dogs.
How many cats and dogs have been abused and killed because their human guardian (not a guardian) was mentally ill and incapable of doing the job properly? A lot, is the answer. There are many borderline-mentally ill people as well who are equally incapable. And I’m not criticising the people because ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ but I am criticising society for allowing cruelty to be perpetrated upon cats and dogs under preventable circumstances. Where are the proactive steps taken to protect animals behind closed doors?
You can see in the photograph that Bennett is smiling at the camera outside the magistrates’ court where she was tried for her crime.
Now for the good part: Poppy survived. Yes, she actually survived being stabbed 10 times and stuffed into a freezer to die. When the RSPCA arrived, they could hear her voice in the freezer. And she recovered. We don’t know any more, such as whether the recovery is full or partial or where she is living now. We all wish her the best for the remainder of her life.
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