Unique video of a woman being arrested for alleged cat cruelty

NEWS AND COMMENT - FLORIDA, USA: This is a cross-post but I feel I need to do it because I believe that this is a unique video of a woman being arrested for alleged cat cruelty. It appears to have been recorded by a bodycam attached to a police officer who is accompanying another police officer who is in the process of arresting and handcuffing this woman who is aged 53 and whose name is Thistle. The video is courtesy the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Thanks, and well-done in arresting her.

Police arrest and handcuff Florida woman for alleged cat cruelty. Screenshot.

She lives in a mobile home on a trailer park in Volusia County, Florida next to a waterway. She used to live with her ex-boyfriend but she allegedly kicked him out of her mobile home and to encourage him to get on with the process of leaving she grabbed his cat who was in a carrier and threw it into a nearby waterway i.e. a river, in effect.

CLICK FOR CRIMES CONCERNING  ANIMALS

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

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The man who is not named must have dashed out immediately and rescued his cat who was under water for 20 seconds, it is reported. The cat's name is Stanley and he's tabby cat. He was being evaluated by animal services while Mrs Thistle was being held on remand in a local police station jail awaiting bail. She wanted somebody to put up a bond so she could be released and kill her ex-boyfriend! That's my understanding of it. It was an act of belligerence when she told the police officer that she wanted to kill her ex-boyfriend. Before that she grumbled about being arrested because she denied throwing the cat into the waterway.

I think that she will have great difficulty in maintaining that denial because the cat was clearly rescued from the waterway by a boyfriend who was wet from the waist down indicating that the waterway is waste deep. All the evidence is there which if the allegation is proved in court will lead to a conviction and I hope a reasonable punishment. In general, criminal courts under-punish perpetrators of animal cruelty. It is the way of the world because cats are second class citizens.

Brilliant fundraising program for American cat rescue organisations

MARCO ISLAND, FLORIDA, USA - NEWS AND COMMENT: A cat rescue organisation whose mission is to end the cruelty of pet overpopulation, For the Love of Cats, has a cool program which I think is a very clever idea and a win-win for all parties concerned. They call it the "Puss in Boots" fundraiser. They collect shoes that women no longer want. Sometimes these are brand-new and unused and they are at least in good condition.

Brilliant fundraising program for any American cat rescue organisation. Photo: For the Love of Cats.

They have managed to accumulate 107 bags of shoes with 25 pairs of shoes per bag for a grand total of 2,675 pairs of shoes. They are picked up by a partner group and the first bag is given free and then subsequently merchants in developing countries such as Haiti and Guatemala purchase additional shoes at a fraction of the normal retail cost. These merchants are able then to sell the shoes on a stall at home. One woman in Haiti has her whole family involved in working on her shoe stall.

Clever commerce

So, the essence of the fundraising program is to collect unwanted shoes which are free to the rescue and then sell them at a very modest price but in large numbers to traders in developing countries where they can make a profit themselves from the sale of the shoes.

The Winners

This helps to rescue and help cats - the first winner. The second winner is the cat rescue organisation and the third are the merchants running stores in developing countries. The fourth winner are the people purchasing the shoes at a modest price and no doubt they get to have shoes that they wouldn't have been able to get hold of normally because they wouldn't be available in shops at home. The fifth winners are the women who are divesting themselves of unwanted shoes. This frees up their wardrobe so they can buy some more! The seventh winners are the local shoe stores :) Ah, there is an eighth; the environment. There will be less landfill. 

It is just a brilliant scheme which has raised $1000 to help the cats of Marco Island and Collier County.

About For the Love of Cats

The vision of For the Love of Cats, as stated on their website, is "a world where all cats' lives matter". They set very high standards, it seems to me, and they put a lot of emphasis on their core values of integrity and commitment. Their work includes TNR programs, assisting people on low incomes and providing emergency veterinary care together with support programs to help people keep their companion animals.

The founders, president and vice-president are Jan Rich and her husband Jim Rich, respectively. They have five staff working for them. I don't know whether they are full-time or not but they are: Ann Daly, Melody Kappauf, Jan Dutmers, Bobbi Conifer and Debbie Lanham. They are based on the west coast of Florida just north of the Everglades.

Source: Marco News and the For the Love of Cats website.

What wild cats live in Florida?

Two wild cat species live in Florida: the bobcat and the Florida panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion). At one time the Florida panther was believed to be distinct subspecies of the puma but no longer. Because of the low population size of the Florida panther - in the hundreds and as low as about 100 I recall at one time - pumas from the west of the country were introduced which I understand to be an acceptance by the conservationists that they have abandoned the notion of keeping the Florida panther purebred and are just trying to save the puma from becoming extinct in Florida. It is the last place in the east of the US where it exists. The rest were hunted to extinction long ago when they were considered pests. And now they are treasured but it is too late.

Florida panther killed on the roads that criss-cross the state. Tragic but not uncommon. PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLTON WARD, JR.

It is a species of cat which is under constant pressure from human activity such as new roads and new developments. I believe that commercial organisations find the presence of the puma in Florida a nuisance and want rid of the pesky animal. I even suggested a conspiracy to get rid of it at one time.

There is talk from time to time of jaguarundi being present in Florida. There may be some but they are likely to be escaped 'pets' as the experts (IUCN Red List) say there are none.

That's about it. Back in the day there would have been ocelots but no longer. Those days are long gone as the best we can do nowadays is see fossil records of ocelots in this sunny state.

Picture of scraggy calico kitten with long pink human nails

I find the human nails ghastly. God, I hate women's nails that are as long as this especially when they are varnished in bright pink and pointed - sharpened up, looking like cat claws. The nails belong to a young woman who is a cat foster carer living in Florida, USA. She does great work and takes some nice photos as you can see on this page.  But please cut your nails and stop varnishing them just for me!

Picture of scraggy calico kitten with long pink human nails. Picture: Instagram.

The picture is good for me because it shows how vulnerable these little newborn kittens are. And look at those nails! Yes, I am on about nails again. I like the nails of cats but not long human nails. Cats are born with decent nails (claws to you and me) but no teeth (rarely they might have some). 

To think that some cat owners ask a veterinarian to remove the claws of their kitten. At such a tender age to put them through 10 brutal amputations. The trauma. The pain. It is quite disgusting to think about it. These people should be ashamed of themselves. 

Because I am on the subject of nails I'll add some more info. You know that cats are digitigrades don't you? They walk on their toes. That part of the anatomy that looks like it is part of the leg leading to their feet (the bit below the hock) is actually their feet. They have very long feet. It helps give them lots of leverage to jump so effectively.

They are built for hunting and speed. There are five phalanges on each forepaw. Four are fully functional and one is vestigial (no longer particularly useful). Each phalange has three parts (bones) called phalanxes. The claw is attached to the distal (farthest) phalanx. They are protractile. So when the vet removes the nail they are actually removing the distal phalanx to which the nail is connected. Yes, it is an amputation, not the removal of only the claw.

You can see the calico pattern on the head. Calico is tortoiseshell-and-white. This kitten has just been fed some milk replacement formula by the look of it as it is still on his face.  Full belly. Happy bunny. Leave his bloody claws alone please. I hope that the foster carer or the cat rescue organisation for which she works have a clause in their contract making it mandatory that there is no declawing. Never declaw please. It is totally immoral.