Burned Cat Clings to Life; Girls Charged

[Ghost in the Machine]

Burned Cat Clings to Life; Girls Charged
Published: 7/19/07, 1:25 AM EDT

COTATI, Calif. (AP) - A 3-month-old cat is clinging to life at a Sonoma County animal hospital after having been set on fire by two teenage girls who now face charges of animal cruelty.

The kitten, named Adam by hospital staff, has undergone two surgeries and had its tail and the tips of its ears amputated. The skin on its back was burned off in the attack, leaving nothing but raw tissue.



"The degree of injury is greater than our normal level of trauma that we care for," said Katheryn Hinkle, the head veterinarian and owner of the Animal Hospital of Cotati. "He's our most critical patient, and we're watching him constantly."

The cat, one of several feral felines trapped for spaying and neutering, was in a cage outside an apartment in Santa Rosa when two 15-year-old girls allegedly poured flammable liquid on the animal and set it on fire last month.


http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=7814&eeid=5311153&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne

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I know with the cat lovers here, maybe someone can help get some donations to this vet clinic to help out...

[BreweryYardRat]

1. Poor kitty.

Hope they throw the book at those girls, and that the kitty recovers.

[DS1]

2. That's a new twist, usually it's the boys

10,000 hours of community service each ought to do it

[liberaldemocrat7]

13. I say the girls serve a punishment of having to clean up after Paris Hilton

for a year. They also must do her laundry and listen to her whine.

attempted murder of a cute kitty? Atrocious. I love kitties. REAL MEN LOVE KITTIES!!!

[graegoyle]

22. Punishment would be slavish servitude to Paris Hilton?

Some (I am inclined to think "many") girls would eat cockroaches (or your personally most disgusting act) if that was the prize for some stupid "shock-radio" contest.

A ridiculous percentage of males would as well.

[Dangerously Amused]

3. Hey Ghost, I'll chip in.

You're a good man, thanks for getting this info out here where it can do some good for the kitty.


Kick

[ThomCat]

5. Do you see a link somewhere to a donation fund?

I must be having a really bad morning, because I can't find it.

[Dangerously Amused]

7. ~~~~~~~~~~ DONATION INFO ~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a SF Chronicle story authenticating the care fund:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/18/BAGR3R2ETO1.DTL



There is a link a little lower on this page for donations to Adam's (kitty's) care fund:

http://www.forgottenfelines.com/v4/adam.shtml


Hi Thom!


:hi:

[ThomCat]

8. Thank you very much!

:hug:

YOu are awesome, DA! :hi:

[Dangerously Amused]

12. Hugs for you (and another kick for Adam kitty).

:hug:

[Ghost in the Machine]

11. Thanks DA!

:hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

31. Donated

and I'm passing this around to my friends.

[Ghost in the Machine]

10. info on the hospital

This is all the information I found. They didn't ask for donations anywhere in the news article, that was just an idea I had when I read about it. They said the cost of keeping this kitten alive could reach $20,000 -$30,000.. and that's with the vet volunteering her services. Maybe someone can call them, or just suprise them with a check in the mail for helping out...

"According to Hinkle, the bill to keep the kitten alive could run between $20,000 and $30,000 even though the vet performing its surgeries has donated her services."

Animal Hospital of Cotati
Katheryn Hinkle DVM
Mary Elen Leavey DVM
[phone]
576 E. Cotati Avenue
Cotati, Ca 94931

[ThomCat]

4. I hope Adam survives and finds a caring, loving home.

:cry:

What could possibly make this seem like a fun or appropriate thing for anyone to do to any animal?

[democratsin08]

6. some people are just sick

this sounds like something michael vick would do. i doubt the girls would want to have gasoline poured on them and set on fire

[warrior1]

9. put the picture of the girls

in the papers and on the net. They should not be protected against their crimes.

fuckers

[stuntcat]

25. I'd like a few minutes with them

I'd like their address and phone number. This makes me sicker than anything in the world

[Blue Diadem]

14. I see the kitten's siblings and an adult cat are missing. I shudder to think

about what happened to them.

I can't imagine why 15 yr old girls would do such a thing. What has happened in their lives that could make them so heartless.

[Shakespeare]

15. Santa Rosa, unfortunately, has become a major base for gang activity.

It's not the sleepy little wine country town it used to be. I'm SO glad I moved away (it'll be one year on 8/1). A few months before I moved, I was caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting while in line at a freaking Taco Bell drive-thru in the middle of a weekday (in a good part of town).

I don't have many nice things to say about the area, and just grimly shook my head when I first read this story.

[Blue Diadem]

20. I'm glad you were able to move away.

Sad that gangs go in and take over areas. I'm wondering now if this was a gang initiation of sorts. Awful..just awful.

[Sequoia]

38. Here's an article in the Press Democrat.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070720/NEWS/707200346/1033/NEWS01

[philosophie_en_rose]

16. poor cat.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with those people?

Looks like the kitty is a survivor. I hope he pulls through and finds a home that deserves him.

[DS1]

17. You think if this was two boys the thread would be full of people calling them

future serial killers and suggesting jail time or burnings?

Those appear to be missing to me.

[Heidi]

28. Jail time rarely is a springboard for an epiphany of compassion.

Someone, maybe a psychiatrist (I dunno; I'm no expert on adolescent psychology), needs to get to the bottom of why these kids feel no compassion for another living being and address the core issues. As far as I know, most jails aren't staffed to address core problems.

[ceile]

18. I'm so sick of reading about stuff like this!

What is wrong with people today?! Are we that fucked up as a society that animal cruelty has become a regular occurance? Are we going to have to start teaching kids not only to be nice to each other, but to animals as well? This kind of shit is just really getting to me lately!

[flvegan]

19. "...heard the cat, then eight weeks old, shrieking while the girls laughed"

Fucking monsters.

I say that since they're minors, let their parents foot the bill for the cat.

[ThomCat]

23. That is a damned good idea.

[ronnykmarshall]

30. Make the little brats work to pay for all the vet bills.

Sounds like a GREAT idea.

[Blue Diadem]

26. yep and also make those two girls visit the burn ward of the hospital.

Hopefully it might make them realize how painful burns are and what a horrific thing they did.

[Midlodemocrat]

21. What fucking psychos.

Poor little kitty. :grr:

[montanto]

24. Man, that is so sick and sad. I was just

reading the other cat post about funny things cats do. wish I had stayed there.

[Debi]

27. Ugh - I'm sitting here with two 48-hour-old kittens at my home right now

trying to keep them alive (the third passed this morning after he ate his breakfast and got cleaned..no idea why..other than he is only 48-hours-old and mom abandoned him! :cry:) Momma cat had five kittens and abandoned three of them - not even cleaning one of them off.

And here comes two sick young women and attempt to kill a kitten for shits and giggles...:grr:

What a fucked up world we live in.

[ronnykmarshall]

32. Bless your heart Debi.

:loveya:

[Debi]

36. I guess..

I'm allergic to the darn things (as is my asthmatic kid) AND my dog is NOT happy with me or the little kitties x(

But I'll try to get them healthy enough to move on to a rescue or shelter.

Thanks rkm! :hug:

[ThomCat]

35. I hope you can save the other two.

:hug:

[Debi]

37. They're both still here!

Eating (not as much as I'd like though) and yelling and doing their doody (all over my hands...ick!)

Keep your finger crossed!! :hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

29. Poor baby.

Fucking little brats. I hope they have to clean out shitty cages for the next 5 years.

[judaspriestess]

33. God, wtf is wrong with this society?

all these souless people wandering around.

[supernova]

34. It hurts to look at him.

Owwwwww. :-( Poor Kitty.

[El Fuego]

39. Those girls should get the death penalty.

I'm serious.

[snooper2]

40. someone should pour flammable liquid on those girls...

and light it....