Simply amazing:
When Maggie Rogers spotted something bobbing in the water three miles into the Gulf of Mexico while on a scalloping trip with friends, she assumed it was a turtle, or a piece of sea kelp.
But as the boat got closer and slowed down, she found it was a tiny, apricot-colored kitten. Nine inches long and screaming at the top of its lungs, the cat was paddling furiously.
“We scooped him up and he sat on the boat with me for eight hours,” said Rogers, who is the finance director at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
“He was exhausted and stressed,” Rogers said. “His heart rate was high.”
I am generally against the death penalty, but in crueltyto animal cases, I think it is justified. How someone could dump this fellow in the ocean is beyond me. Scum.
Russ
I’m with you there, John.
Val Prieto noted a related incident a week or so ago.
Utterly despicable. There is a special place in Hell for such people.
Lex
And they named it Nemo. Nice.
I’m with you. But: How do we know the kitty didn’t end up in the water by accident?
Andrew J. Lazarus
This kitty has only eight left.
Jeff Cole
“I am generally against the death penalty, but in crueltyto animal cases, I think it is justified.”
Well. How enlightened. Whatever your grounds for opposing the death penalty for crimes against humans, I’m relieved that you at least see its applicability in CIRCUMSTANTIAL ATTEMPTED MURDER cases against kittens. You seem to be quite the man of principle on this profound moral question. And just what are those principles again? Allow me to suggest that there are crimes against human children (not sure how they compare to kittens in the innocence department) every day in this country far more egregious – if that’s the word – than this one. Not sure where adult humans stand in your values scale with kittens but they get murdered in cruel ways too. If the terrorizer of a wet cat is deserving, so is the monster who murdered Laci Peterson and Baby Connor. While you are reviewing your standards on this one, pls allow the notion that MOST of us out here STILL cry out for equivalent justice in certain terrible capital crimes against our fellow humans.
Phil
John, my wife aggregates and tracks stories of animal cruelty nationwide on her website, following cases from first mention to prosecution and conviction (if any). Most people would not believe the depths of depraved, cruel evil to which people can sink when harming animals. I don’t know how she maintains her sanity when reading this stuff.
Sadly, most cases result in slaps on the wrist. Very few states have felony animal cruelty laws, either.
Dean Esmay
Hey Jeff: Take a Xanax, would ya.
M. Scott Eiland
Success is the best revenge–some smart movie producer should sign Nemo to a three-picture deal where he opens a big old can of kitty whup-ass on would-be kitten drowners. Big box office, and Nemo retires to a life of imported tuna and caviar and an eventual shot on “Where Are They Now?”
Baltazar
Make sure you have the poor fellow neutered and see that he gets a good home. Such heroic survival against great odds should be rewarded.
pennywit
Maybe there could be a video game produced by the same folks who did “Serious Sam.”
Kathy K
No neutering. That cat should be bred…
ape
I often say a similar thing to what COle says here, partially frivolously I admit.
THe emotion arises as the animal has no chance to defend itself and noone to stand up for it. Cases of total cowardice where there is virtially no chance of getting caught are the worst.
Of course its not entirely serious, but the people I think should be exterminated are those who ‘collect’ the eggs of rare birds (the rarer the better). Every year conservationists have to camp out in the woods guarding nests.
Gary Farber
Isn’t it possible the poor thing simply fell off someone’s boat?
M. Scott Eiland
“Isn’t it possible the poor thing simply fell off someone’s boat?”
Someone had a cat running around loose on a boat three miles out at sea? That’s not as malicious a scenario, but it indicates criminal stupidity on the part of Nemo’s former owners.
Chuckg
More to the point, if kitty falls off your boat, wouldn’t you go back and get him?
Russell Wardlow
I have to agree with Jeff. That statement about the death was incredibly idiotic. You’re elevating the worth of a kitten far above the lives of most humans. It’s still just an animal, fer chrissakes.
I defy anyone to show that they’re a bigger dog-lover than me, but even if someone tortured the cutest little puppy in the world to death, I wouldn’t be screaming “Off with his head!” That might be my first visceral, unthinking reaction, but it’s not a rationale one. Yes, there should be animal cruelty laws that punish people for unnecessary pain and suffering inflicted on them, but animals simply do not have the same moral worth as human beings.
Devon Cole
Jeff and Russell-
For Cripes sake- I think you are reading a lot more into John’s statment than needed. Even though I tend to agree with him. As a general rule I don’t like people, and prefer animals instead. Therefore, I wholeheartedly agree with killing people who hurt animals.(NO SARCASM INTENDED WHATSOEVER…)
Russell Wardlow
Devon,
Eh, I don’t think so.
Your argument is that John was being insincere in some way? Fine. As I see it, there are two possibilities.
Either:
1) He was just kidding in a “People who listen to Britney Spears should be shot” kinda way.
or:
2) He was genuinely outraged by the apparent mistreatment of the kitten, and was venting emotionally, but would not have seriously stood by the statement after calm reflection.
I don’t think option 1 is very likely.
So, as far as option 2 goes, I still think the “Death penalty for kitten killers!” is an irresponsible and stupid thing to say. I can think of many scenarios, for instance where someone’s visceral anger led them to overreact verbally in way that’s irrational. One example: Member of ethnicity X mugs your elderly grandmother, and you react with: “All those people are subhuman brutes and should be deported back to Country X!”
Do we excuse such a statement or condone its expression because it was made in the heat of passion? I wouldn’t, and would hope others wouldn’t either.
Rick
Animals do fall off boats and it is difficult to notice. One guy in our marina took his two Jack Russels on an overnight in Biscayne Bay. When he came back the next day, one of the Jack’s was missing. Somewhere in the twenty mile ride the dog had gone overboard unnoticed. He searched for days, but never found the dog. Same thing with cats. Until shown otherwise, I would attribute this to an accident, not a crime.
JC
Russell,
I think your option 2 is correct here. Jhn Cole is outraged, and one of the ways to vent that outrage is to talk about the death penalty. I may be wrong, but in no way did I see this as a serious “policy” prescription. John’s entitled to vent a bit, it’s his blog.
Rachel Ann
Isn’t it possible that the kitten was washed out to sea (or sleeping on something that was washed out to sea?? Had climbed, unknown, onto someone’s boat and fallen off, all without their knowledge?
Kimberly
I, too, think this could be an accident. Don’t cats like to hang around fishing boats anyway? Isn’t it possible that one got on board and later fell off, all without the intervention of the crew?
If a person, however, threw the kitten off a boat, I agree – that person should be fed to the dragons.
Or perhaps we should send Pfc. Hammer in to “discipline” the cruel person:
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?sid=1085044
And, although I volunteer for animal shelters and am a big fan of spaying/neutering, I kinda agree with Kathy that this cat should breed. Damn, but he must have some serious courage and self-preservation instincts (just like Pfc. Hammer, in fact.)
Andrew | BYTE BACK
>>Utterly despicable. There is a special place in Hell for such people. … …. And they named it Nemo. Nice.
:)
Or did I miss something in between? Yes, I am trying to put off something I need to write. Damn. With that comment I forced myself off the blogs until I get it done.
After John Cole’s death penalty comment – I hope he did the same.