by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)

Faith survived the fire
I have a case I've been working on and haven't gotten the full story. In the meantime, I'd like to present what I've learned and I ask you, the reader, to respond to whether this mother cat and her kittens were deliberately set on fire.
The photo above is very distressing. I've shied away from as many abuse stories as possible for the simple fact they upset everyone. Something told me to jump in on this one.
Here's what I've learned so far. This happened last week in Hinesville, Georgia.
A mother cat and her kittens were set on fire by a man who was burning leaves in his yard. This occurred during a time there was a burning ban due to high winds in the area.
I believe only the mother cat, now known as Faith, is still alive. Please correct me if I'm mistaken. One of the babies was still alive when a neighbor (not the fire starter) took it to the vet. It was crying in agony and had to be humanely euthanized.
The man burning the leaves is an alleged cat hater.
This is all I have so far, with the exception the man may have claimed he didn't know the mother cat and her kittens were hiding in the leaves.
I don't believe an arrest has been made. I'm not even sure whether the matter is being investigated in by the Hinesville police or animal control.
There's something seriously wrong with this picture. For one, any mother cat would immediately leave a burning pile of leaves. She wouldn't likely have her kittens in a pile of leaves to start with. Mother cats have been known to return to burning houses and barns over and over to save their litter. This man wants us to believe this cat just lay there and allowed the fire to consume it.
I'd hate to think this man DID know he was setting fire to a family of cats. It's not beyond my comprehension as I've done countless stories about cat abuse.
What irks me about this case is the lack of anything being done about it. Even if this man is charged, we'll likely see another abuser go free (if he IS an abuser) because a jury would ALL have to believe he did this intentionally. Only one juror believing him innocent would mean he gets off without any kind of punishment.
Except for KARMA! Let's not forget that someday, somehow, abusers will have to pay for the abuse inflicted in this life.
Were this mother cat and her kittens deliberately set on fire?
Comments anyone? Can any of you add any information or fill in the gaps. This is one of the most horrible cases of animal cruelty (or accident) I've reported on and I only want to get to the bottom of it.
