Police officer puts an injured cat in barbed wire out of his misery with a hammer

This is a cat story from the United States, specifically Greater Lewis County in Washington.  Freddy was an outdoor cat.  He was trapped in barbed wire on top of a fence (the barbed wire was illegal, I believe). Freddy’s caretaker was Karen Thorson.

Freddy, Killed by a police officer with a hammer

This is Freddy.

We don’t know why a police officer arrived at the scene but officer Philip Reynolds did. Perhaps someone called the police? It might have ended better if the owner and neighbors had dealt with it.

Officer Reynolds hit the cat on the head with a hammer “multiple times” and killed Freddy. This is according to a witness, Nick Murray, a neighbor of Karen Thorson.

A police officer colleague of Philip Reynolds says that:

“As far as I can tell there was no violation of policy. He did all he could with putting (the cat) out of his misery as quickly as possible, and a firearm just wasn’t an option on this case,” (another police officer says that he was informed that the cat was hit once).

So, it appears, there is a discrepancy between a witness and the police. Who do you believe?

There is no doubt in my mind that the cat was hit with a hammer more than once. That is common sense. There is no police policy for this sort of event in this area. The officer deals with the matter on a case-by-case basis. The big question is could the matter had been dealt with more humanely and more sensibly?

For me, the answer to that question starts with the attitude of the police officer confronted with the problem (and the attitude of the neighbors). If the person places quite a low value on the cat and if the person places a high-value on preventing himself becoming injured in the barbed wire then he is likely to kill the cat there and then.

Freddy’s death was anything but humane. It must have been extremely painful, which I think is worth mentioning. However, the bigger issue is whether he could have been saved.

If any one of the regular visitors to this website including myself was confronted with this matter, I believe, we would have found some way of saving the life of this cat. That highlights the differences in attitude and how it affects the outcome.

We don’t know how badly entangled in the barbed wire the cat was. However, if the police officer could have got hold of a pair of gloves and a wire cutter together with a thick blanket from the neighbors (i.e. involve the neighbors), I think he could have released the cat, without injuring himself. It needed two or three people to extricate Freddy. Of course, there was a risk the cat could have been further injured during the process but that was a risk worth taking, I believe.

The cat may been badly injured (we are told one of his legs looked bad) but the police officer was not in a position to assess injuries incurred by this cat and whether they were life-threatening and therefore, in truth, he was not in a position to decide whether he should “euthanise” this cat.

We can say with some certainty that this is not a case of ‘euthanasia’ but of ‘killing’ because if Freddy was injured but otherwise healthy and if his injuries could have been treated by a veterinarian then he was not in a situation whereby euthanasia was necessary or whereby killing him could be described as euthanasia.


Update: Dawn made this comment:

Freddy was still alive when he was put in the bag to be taken back to the station and thrown away. The officer is a forced rehire. He was fired a number of years ago for excessive force while using a taser, he applied the taser for extensive periods of time deemed unnecessary, and for not assisting calls when he should.

I have a better picture of Freddy and have sent it to Elisa for her to get to you. Freddy was the sibling to my friends cat. The one witness was her roommate. He is the one who saw that Freddy was still alive. Given the officers past issues I believe he took Freddy and “disposed” of him in order to avoid an autopsy being done on him to prove he, the officer, acted without good judgment.

In the state of Washington officers are required to display reasonable prudence when put in the position Officer Reynolds was put in. He clearly did not act with reasonable prudence.

This changes my assessment obviously. Thanks Dawn.


My conclusion is that the policeman was at least equally concerned about his own health as he was about the cat’s, which we have to respect. This is not a clear cut matter because we don’t have the full facts and therefore at this stage we shouldn’t be too critical although for me the policeman behaved badly – update: since writing that I have seen Dawn’s comment above which makes the situation far more clear cut. In order to expedite a resolution of the problem with which he didn’t really like being confronted, he decided to kill the cat in any manner possible, other than with a firearm. I wonder whether he even contemplated saving the cat’s life?

Another sad element of this cat story is that, as Freddy’s owner was unknown at the time his body would have been thrown away in the trash because the police force calls the street department to pick up dead cats who throw them away. That too is worth mentioning because it is not a decent way to deal with someone’s companion animal who was involved in an accident. Why didn’t the owner come forward? Why didn’t the police officer find the owner?

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Michael Broad

Hi, I'm a 74-year-old retired solicitor (attorney in the US). Before qualifying I worked in many jobs including professional photography. I love nature, cats and all animals. I am concerned about their welfare. If you want to read more click here.

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37 Responses

  1. Everycat says:

    Er, the RSPCA don’t have the right to pursue criminal prosecutions. All of their prosecutions are private prosecutions, this allows them to avoid the filter of the CPS and continue to persecute the vulnerable and kill their pets with impunity.

    The RSPCA are a charity, nothing else. They might wear quasi police uniforms but since they are charity workers they do not have any more rights than you or I.

    The RSPCA have a deservedly poor reputation. I wouldn’t trust them to rescue a “Freddy” Take a look at their annual kill figures.

    • Dee (Florida) says:

      Your RSPCA sounds as unscrupulous and deceitful as our ASPCA and HSUS here.
      Is the RSPCA upfront with the usage of the donations they receive? Can you find a breakdown online?
      Not here, for sure. As a matter of fact, reports say that 90% of incoming monies donated to the HSUS goes to “operations”, whatever that means.
      The only reason I can fathom as to why they aren’t under scrutiny or have undercover investigations going on is because they are rich, powerful organizations.
      They have sucked kind, ignorant people into their webs of deception.

  2. DD says:

    Here’s a story where a bobcat was “snarled in a barbed wire fence” and he was saved! Poor cat, that cop sounds like a maniac and so saving the cat most likely never entered his mind.
    https://www.thedodo.com/rescued-released-bobcat-wild-1049476288.html

  3. Eva D.R.Force says:

    Thank You*
    Eva

    • Michele S. says:

      Poor Freddy and his owner. I can’t imagine the nightmares she must be having to think of how her beloved pet suffered at the hands of that monster.

      I just don’t understand why the police were called to “help” instead of an animal welfare organisation.

      I’ve joined the Justice for Freddy FB group and as soon as the petition is ready, I’ll be sharing it with everyone I know. That officer needs to be imprisoned for what he’s done. I hope that if the legal system fails Freddy, that “street” justice won’t.

      • They don’t have the RSPCA in America as you know. In the UK the RSPCA would have been called out. It is unthinkable that they would hit a cat over the head with a hammer under any circumstances. I don’t know of an equivalent animal welfare Association to the RSPCA in America. The RSPCA have a rather unique role in the UK because they have the right to commence criminal prosecutions. Perhaps America needs an organisation like the RSPCA.

        Michelle, if you learn more about this case it would be great if you could post an update in comment. Thanks in advance.

  4. Eva D.R.Force says:

    Thanks to all who helped to bring this true story and his photo to light_He was a Majestic cat.
    Eva

    • Thanks Eva for reminding us that Freddy was an individual cat with rights and emotions and a character of his own. We can become lost in the blizzard of cat euthanasia at shelters and cats who live unnaturally short lives.

      • Elisa says:

        I put you in the group and also added one of the top people for dog shootings. She can likely offer a lot of advice for what needs to be done. You should see all the links I pulled where he’s been suspended in the past for abusing his position.

  5. Elisa says:

    I got my hands on a better photo.

    • Relief! Thanks Elisa. I’ll put that on the page! LOL. As u can see I was struggling with pictures.

      • Elisa says:

        I was too. Someone posted it on one of the threads for me. I did 14 shelter cat articles last night 🙂

      • Elisa says:

        More information available now. https://www.facebook.com/groups/JusticeForFreddy/?notif_t=group_description_change

        Freddy got stuck on a fence in Centralia,WA that had barbed wire on it.. Community Services Officer from Centralia P.D. came and also a regular Centralia Police Officer responded to the scene.. Freddy was removed from the fence AFTER being HIT IN THE HEAD with a HAMMER MORE THAN ONCE.. Then Thrown into a GARBAGE BAG and upon arrival at the police station TOSSED into the Dumpster.. After contacting the police in person at their station, Freddy’s owner found out that the cat they had was in fact Freddy..Then it was found out that Freddy had been tossed into the dumpster.. After calls to the Commanding Officer,and getting the run around,and also the typical “we’ll get back to you”,NOTHING has happened yet.. All my mom and Karen have asked is that a policy be put in place to at least contact a vet to have situations like this NOT go to this level.. Freddy COULD’VE BEEN Saved…Freddy was weeks away from his 4th Birthday.. 3 Years old is just a kid.. Finding out that the Police Officer had a history of bad calls (decisions) and also has also made things worse for Freddy’s family. And the other comment pertaining to Barbed Wire not being allowed on Fences inside city limits has also come up.This whole situation was just wrong….We want ACCOUNTABILITY and for this NEVER to happen again.

  6. Leslie McIntyre says:

    Are you kidding me, you can’t be too critical?, There is a lot to be critical about this decision.There are animal rescues! There are towels you can wrap around a frightened animal. there are a number of way more humane ways to deal with this, like taking the cat to a vet and having its leg amputated, rather then bludgeoning it with a hammer. What a horror for that poor cat.

    • It is a matter of opinion as to whether we are critical or not. The point I am making is this: we don’t know the exact circumstances. We don’t know what was in the mind of the police officer. The point is we can’t be too critical unless we have all the facts and newspapers don’t always provide clear facts. The situation could have been desperate. It depended on the injuries to the cat.

      What if the barbed wire was wrapped around Freddy and it was almost impossible to get him out?

      Also I have made clear in the article that what he did was wrong and that there were better options. I am trying to present a balanced viewpoint and one which avoids dogma and ranting.

  7. Dawn says:

    Freddy was still alive when he was put in the bag to be taken back to the station and thrown away. The officer is a forced rehire. He was fired a number of years ago for excessive force while using a taser, he applied the taser for extensive periods of time deemed unnecessary, and for not assisting calls when he should.

    I have a better picture of Freddy and have sent it to Elisa for her to get to you. Freddy was the sibling to my friends cat. The one witness was her roommate. He is the one who saw that Freddy was still alive. Given the officers past issues I believe he took Freddy and “disposed” of him in order to avoid an autopsy being done on him to prove he, the officer, acted without good judgment.

    In the state of Washington officers are required to display reasonable prudence when put in the position Officer Reynolds was put in. He clearly did not act with reasonable prudence.

    Thank you so much for doing this story! We appreciate it so much!

    • Thanks Dawn. You comment provides some important missing information which alters the picture completely. Wow, It is quite a shock to read your comment actually. I’ll add your comment to the page and make some adjustments.

  8. dol says:

    Damm appalling I wouldn’t even look at the photo

  9. J. Martin says:

    The police are the wrong people to call when it comes to animals. They often DON’T do the right thing and will more often KILL the animal (no matter what kind it is). Sometimes right in from of others. Even the owner itself!!!! The fire department would have been a better choice or an animal rescue organization or humane society. The cops of late.. are often over aggressive and untrained in simple situations. I could mention several stories in the news as of late regarding trigger happy cops (there was one recently of a cop who blew a dog’s head off with a shotgun and video recorded it..could be heard saying “awesome”). Cops who are witnesses (and partners of the ones involved) will NOT say anything that shows them as bad. They have out right LIED as to what happened, being caught on camera. 90% of time they are in the wrong and yet…NOTHING is done to them!!! I could also mention other incidents involving not just animals but “people”. The same thing..caught on camera, showing their total disregard. For most things.. nowadays..I’d rather not call the cops. They are becoming more thuggish and at times worse than criminals!! (No.. not all cops). I will post such stories on my facebook page when I see them at times (I live in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) and I see stories from all over regarding things like this. I DON’T appreciate the way these cops treat animals or people for that matter.

  10. Michele S. says:

    I’ve seen and read lots of news stories where individuals, firemen and animal welfare organisations have rescued cats and other animals entangled in barbed wire . The animals may not always have survived their injuries – but they were given that chance, or at least the option of euthansia as a painless death.

    I tend to agree it sounds like the police officer had little or no intention of trying to save that poor cat. Even when giving him the benefit of the doubt, in that the cat was too horrifically injured to be saved, to use a hammer was just wrong on so many levels. It would have been kinder to shoot the poor creature through the head, but it seems a trigger happy cop is never around when you need one.

  11. Sandra Murphey, No. CA, USA says:

    Someone may have called the police, thinking that it may have been helpful. Maybe if they’d called the fire dept. which is who people call when a cat is up a tree or trapped in a building, the cat might still be alive. Don’t call the police to help; most times they make things worse!

    • Absolutely Sandy. The fire service was the obvious choice. I believe if three neighbors had got their act together and used their combined resources they could have freed Freddy and he’d alive today.

  12. Eva D.R.Force says:

    Thank You Michael_Eva say’s

  13. Sandra Murphey, No. CA, USA says:

    I don’t expect police officers to be humane to animals or people. More and more they are using criminal tactics on innocent animals and humans.

    In this situation, I doubt if any officer would have called a vet (who would pay?) or taken the time to find wire cutters (maybe already in the police car?). How would he know where the owner could be located?

    Who knows what was in this guy’s mind? Very sad that the cat had to suffer from the barbed wire, and then from the hammer.

    • I think the police officer could have tried to save the cat’s life. I sense he automatically thought about killing him. The default position is to kill rather than preserve life in this situation, which I find total wrong. The police are meant to be our servants and I don’t why the police were involved in the first place as there is no crime.

    • I have received more information and it seems this is another case of police brutality against companion animals.

  14. Eva D.R.Force says:

    Michael_I didn’t get the photo, but wish to leave a comment about Freddy, who was tangled up in barbed wire.I read one of his legs was badly damaged? An injured animal and traumatised animal is aggressive as we are if in pain. I do believe if the owner could not be located and the cat was in severe pain and injured beyond repair AND wire cutters could not be obtained >that a vet should have been called. Some vets will make house calls in an emergency.At the very least a neighbor could have cut the wire off and rushed him to a vet______
    Freddie’s skull was crushed with a hammer while alive_attempting to escape & already in horrible pain. I don’t want to see this happen to any animal.Rest in Peace Freddy.

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