Zip Tie Cat Torture Case

by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)

Good morning readers. You know, it never ceases to amaze me at the ways people come up with to torture cats. I've titled this article the Zip Tie Cat Torture Case because that's exactly what it is. Pictured above is what a zip tie looks like. They are used to hold things together.

I know here in the U.S. they're used on everything from garbage bags to handcuffs. They're strong, hard to get out of, and easy to obtain.

Apparently a cat torturer in Brighton, Michigan (Livingston County) thought it a good prank to pull on a defenseless eight month old kitten.

The kitten belonged to Kathy White, who resides near Brighton Village located at 7500 Grand River Avenue. Kathy thought her eight month old kitten had been stolen after escaping from her home almost two weeks ago.

On Saturday, March 19, Kathy found her kitten on her front porch with it's front legs tied with these zip ties. The circulation had been cut off to the point the bone was exposed. It had been nine days since the kitten had been seen and the ties are believed to have been on the kitten for several days.

Sadly, Kathy's kitten had to be humanely euthanized due to the extent of the damage and the poor prognosis.

Kathy is posting flyers and has offered a $100 reward in the case, which is being investigated by Livingston County Animals Control.

Now the Michigan Humane Society has upped the reward an extra $2500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. Information can be called in at Livingston County Animal Control (517)546-2154.

I did a little digging into the penalties for animal abuse in Michigan. They don't play around with punishment there, readers. Words like "willfully" and "maliciously" were changed to "knowingly" when statute 750.50b was enacted a few years ago. This means a person who knowingly hurts an animal can be looking at jail time of up to four years and a fine of up to $5000. (See the law as at 2008)

Although not applicable in this case, additional fines of $2500 for each additional animal abused can be enforced up to a total of $20,000.

A person convicted may also be banned from owning an animal and may also have to pay court costs. Those who violate these orders after a conviction may be looking at additional fines and jail time.

Now if the police and judges will just enforce this we'll be making progress in the fight against animal abuse.

Readers from Michigan, if I've missed anything please feel free to add it in the comment section.

I believe someone out there is bragging about this. I've never heard of a zip tie being used to torture a cat. Someone will likely think they've "invented" something new and hopefully they won't be able to keep quiet about it.

I get very tired of reporting these cases. I can't stop because I want the cat lovers out there to stay on guard and this is the only was I know to accomplish that. Many of my articles are upsetting to read. My logic to this is it's easier to read and be warned than to have something horrible happen to your own cats because no one warned you that monsters walk the earth and live in your neighborhood.

I've also been accused of making people paranoid about letting their own cats wander the neighborhood. My only answer to that charge is "read the stories." Cat torture is going on everywhere. And I do mean TORTURE. The crazies of this world don't want to simply kill. They want to inflict as much pain as possible.

I'm reporting on this abuse story today. There are three more that came into my in box. In other words, I'm only reporting a quarter of what is out there. Not to mention at least thirty cases involving dogs and horses.

If I can condition readers to look out for their cat family and to be on the lookout for the neglected and abandoned, then I've done my job.

Keep your cats safe everyone.

Elisa

References:
http://www.pet-abuse.com/
http://www.clickondetroit.com/