A “DIY declaw” was badly botched and the cat died two weeks later. This is an unfathomable story of cat cruelty and criminality. The person who is charged with a third degree felony of animal cruelty said in her police statement:
“I thought it was best for him because he had damaged some furniture….I had the best intentions. I wanted to keep him in the house because he was our beloved cat.”
What in heavens name was she thinking? The woman in question is Carmenza Piedrahita. She lives in South Miami-Dade. She adopted her cat Toby from the county’s animal shelter in July 2014 when he was 2-months-of-age. Toby was the victim of this brutal torture at 8-months-of-age.
Piedrahita said that she asked an unqualified man (72-year-old Geronimo Gonzalez) to delcaw her cat because she could not afford a vet and yet she offered the man $100 after the “operation”.
Her defence is that she thought the man was a vet but that seems to be a blatant lie. Common sense tells us it is a lie because the declawing must have taken place outside of a clinic and in any case she says she could not afford a vet. Apparently another man called Jose allegedly did the mutilation.
Allegedly about two weeks after the operation the woman took Toby to a veterinarian’s clinic where he died due, it seems, to a catastrophic infection.
Bones in his paws were exposed and he was vomiting green mucus. Toby would have been in excruciating pain for the entire time and he was badly dehydrated.
“[Toby was] in severe pain due to exposed bones in both front legs.” (a vet providing evidence).
This is beyond negligent cat ownership. This is about as bad as cat cruelty gets and what makes it all the more shocking is that the perpetrator thought she was doing the right thing by her cat: madness. She is obviously a very stupid woman as well as being ill-educated and categorically the wrong person to look after a cat.
The woman’s lawyer lamely said:
“She feels terrible about the whole situation….She really wanted the cat. If not, she wouldn’t have taken him to the clinic.”
What he means is she took Toby to a vet when he was at death’s door. Does that prove she has good intentions? She says she took Toby to the vet four days after the declawing but it appears to have been two weeks. More alleged lies.
What if 72-year-old Geronimo Gonzalez had done a brilliant job of the declawing? It would still have been illegal and therefore a criminal act because only vets can do declawing in the USA. It is ironic because many vets botch the operation causing long term post operative pain. It shows that the exception from illegality granted to vets when they declaw cats is very strange and illogical.
Please comment on Facebook to spread the word. Please click “Also post on Facebook”. Thanks:
Source: Miami Herald and my thanks to Elisa Black-Taylor for finding the story.
A tragic story of cats kept as house accessories and not as pets.Why keep a cat as a pet knowing that all cats have the habit of scratching against furniture or other objects in the house.Keep a dog or a hamster or a mouse or birds as pets rather than a cat if unable to face the fact that most cats do shed fur as well as sometimes leave scratch marks on furniture. “De-CLAWING” is akin to keeping a cat as a personal artificial toy rather than a living normal human pet.
Sobbing….. It’s a barbaric practice that should be outlawed altogether. I hope there is a maximum sentence fitting to the torture this kitten suffered and that this sorry excuse for a human receives it!! Where’s a petition for justice?