Posted on 07/01/2009 7:11:49 PM PDT by Chet 99
BOSTON -- The beating death of a cat in front of shocked children prompted protests Sunday in Worcester.
A group of people gathered in front of the city police department, demanding police put Tom Foley behind bars.
Foley admittedly beat a cat named Lily to death in front of several children on Friday.
The owner, Lisa Tuttle, said her cat Lily had just given birth to a litter of kittens and may have been feeling territorial when she charged Foley's dog and scratched Foley several days earlier on Dupuis Avenue.
"I just came out. I saw the cat in a pool of blood, my daughter screaming," neighbor Lisa Tuttle said. Witnesses said at least one adult and four horrified children saw Foley beat the cat to death with a stick.
[Lisa Tuttle, cat's owner] Lisa Tuttle, cat's owner More "I think it's an awful crime that he did it in front of kids. I think it shows his lack of humanity. I think that these kids are going to be traumatized," protest organizer Jaqueline Corliss said.
Foley, of Stoneham Road in Worcester, claimed he was defending himself from the seven-pound cat.
He has not been charged.
The College of Holy Cross put Foley on paid leave from his job as a public safety officer.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals law enforcement department is actively investigating the incident and asked any witnesses to any animal cruelty to contact them directly at: 617-522-6008 or 800-628-5808.
Animal cruelty is a felony in Massachusetts punishable by a fine up to $2,500 and up to five years in prison.
Has anybody noticed that this cat killer (who some idiots here seem to support) was a “public safety officer”? Isn’t that the same job that the BTK Killer in Wichita had? One of those little Barney Fife pissants who gives people tickets for letting their grass get too high, etc. Not surprising that some power-drunk little state functionary would think he had the right to kill a cat days after it allegedly scratched him. Another potential serial killer gets support from the usual “I hate cats” morons.
If a cat attacked me and my dog as we were just walking by, I’d probably assume it had rabies...
video of cat attacking a Rottweiler
> The College of Holy Cross put Foley on paid leave from his job as a public safety officer.
Aside from being a cat killer, it seems he's also a cop wannabe. Maybe a mall cop. Brave guy who hunts cats for revenge. I hope he gets some serious slammer-time: it would serve him right.
Cowardly dog
He’s a campus cop, the college equivalent of mall cop
The owner is restraining the dog from defending itself while the cat gets free shots at it.
Wouldn’t want those rabid claws to mess up your long elegant legs, would you eh. The proper thing to do would be to summon animal control, not come back and personally clobber a cat that was obviously conducting itself peacefully in the presence of other humans.
Notice in that video one man uses his foot to push the cat away. Looks like a “nudge” to me. In the comments under the video, someone is complaining the man is “kicking” the cat. So, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.
> If a cat attacked me and my dog as we were just walking by, I’d probably assume it had rabies...
Cats sometimes do that here in New Zealand, where there is no rabies at all. Some cats are just loco.
There’s a cat in our street like that. We call it the “Ghost Cat” — a huge fluffy white persian with no fear of dogs. Not even my huge German Shepherd who isn’t afraid of any living thing but she *is* afraid of the Ghost Cat.
We can be walking along at night, minding our own business, and the Ghost Cat will jump out at us, hiss, with all its fur standing on end, crazy glowing green eyes — just a few feet in front of us. Gives my German Shepherd one Hell of a fright. Me too, because it is always unexpected.
Ever seen a big German Shepherd evacuate herself completely in less than one second? I have — when my German Shepherd was out in the backyard “to do her business” at the same time the Ghost Cat decided to stage its latest attack. It was a very messy affair!
No question of rabies with this crazy animal: it’s just a big fluffy white cat with no Fear and a Death Wish. I wouldn’t dream of harming it.
No, I sure wouldn’t. And if you figure out a way to stop any animal from attacking while you ring up your friendly neighborhood ACO and wait for him to drop everything and come save you, let me know.
As far as returning days later to beat the cat to death, maybe that was the second time it attacked? This story is long on emotion and short on details...
It may not be rabies, but how can you be sure, especially when it’s an animal that you see living outside, day after day? If it does bite you, and you don’t catch it, you are the one who gets the rabies shots.
I punted a chihuahua who charged me and my dog a few months ago, kicked him halfway across the street. I don’t regret it, any more than I would regret beating a larger dog who attacked me. People need to control their animals.
If the kitty was wreaking havoc with anyone else, we sure haven’t heard about it. Perhaps that cat and that man had a mutual hatred for one another. He was a fool to come back, he knew that was asking for trouble.
A chihuahua? Charged your dog? What was your dog, another chihuahua? You low down dirty dog kicker.
you would be surprised
there are freepers who claim they will personally murder anyone who kills a pet
what a screwed up culture
elevate animals over babies
My dog is a pitbull.
An extremely well-behaved, unthreatening, neutered, vaccinated, worm-free, flea-free pitbull. I pour too much time and money into him to allow him to be bitten by a dog that might have any number of diseases because his owners don’t care enough to bring him inside from the rain, let alone to a vet.
A full-on Feral cat might be a different story: for one thing it would be much bigger than 7 lbs, and for another thing it would be a matter of self-defense. But feral cats — the real ones — are in short supply in Worcester, Massachusetts: there are none. In this case we’re talking about a 7 lb domestic kitty who had just given birth to kittens. Somebody’s pet.
Pretty shameful act, even if you don’t like cats.
I don't particularly care for cats, and I would never do that to a cat, but I can understand kicking it to try to repel it. I'm not sure of the weight range for "full-on" feral cats. Those I have seen are not larger than domestic cats, and are sometimes smaller/leaner. I'm also not sure why this guy would be expected to calculate the odds that this is a feral/domestic cat while he is being attacked without provocation, or how he is expected to know the cat has recently had kittens.
All that being said, I think it is reasonable that he should be able to defend himself. Should he have killed the animal? No. I really doubt anything beyond driving the cat away was necessary, and I think he should be investigated and possibly prosecuted.
He was a fool for using the public sidewalk?
Let your pit bull take care of himself then. He’s not scared of no chihuahua is he? Or of recently pregnant 7 pound house cats?
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