Mo. Man Charged With Burning Kitten

Drudge | July 16 | AP

[SLB]

LIBERTY, Mo.- A man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly burning a kitten on a barbecue grill as several other people stood around and watched in amusement.

A witness pulled the scorched, 7-week-old tabby from the hot coals, but it was severely injured and had to be put to death, police said.

"They kept saying, `Meow, meow,' and they were poking at it with a stick," said Sherry Scott, who burned her hand grabbing the kitten.

Charles C. Benoit, 24, was charged with animal abuse, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Jim Roberts, spokesman for the Clay County prosecutor's office, said he does not expect anyone else to be charged, because no witnesses could identify the others.

Scott said that on Friday night, she saw 10 or 12 people at the barbecue grill in the courtyard of the apartment complex where she lives. Scott said she asked what they were cooking, and they said it was a cat. She said the group taunted her, daring her to rescue the cat.

She said the group scattered when she threatened to call police. She said she pulled the kitten from where it had been shoved into the coals at the back of the grill. Its tail, whiskers, fur, eyes and throat were scorched.

"I called him Lucky because I thought I got him out of there just in time," she said.

Scott said she and other residents stayed up Friday night trying to nurse the kitten with an eye dropper of milk. But animal control officers decided that because of its respiratory injuries and inability to swallow food, it had to be destroyed.

"If you would have seen him, you would have cried," said Sheri Simpson, one of the residents who helped care for the kitten.

[Chi-Town Lady]

That's one thing law enforcement has said for years. If people hurt/mame animals then they fall pretty much in the same class as Jeffrey Dahlmer (sp?). SICK PIECES OF SH*T!

[Black Agnes]

AWWWWWWWW! (do they smile cuz they have gas like babies?)

[ravingnutter]

A few years ago we adopted a 4-week old coyote whose mother had been killed, he was with us about a year and then just took off one day and never came back. He was very timid and sweet and much better behaved than my other dogs,LOL! We also have a roadrunner that likes to get on our house and tease our dogs.

[MotleyGirl70]

AWWWWWWWW! (do they smile cuz they have gas like babies?)

I don't know....maybe. But I don't want to find out.

[Houmatt]

Dear God in heaven. It takes a special kind of monster to do something so horrible to a defenseless animal.

What makes it worse is people were standing around, watching it, actually enjoying themselves.

The very thought of this is so bleeping obscene there are no words for it.

[shaggy eel]

,,, post #80. That cat appears to be snap frozen. Can you confirm it was alive when it was photographed?

[ezo4]

This is completely gross. What kind of idiot would do something like that and other people stood around and watched. Unbelievable! I wonder if he will actually get charged and serve time.

[ravingnutter]

I hope it was a no-kill shelter. Otherwise you might as well have shot them all. Dead is dead.

As I understand it, they keep them on the adoption list for 30 days. I could never shoot an animal. If they are going to die, I would rather the Humane Society take care of the matter in a painless fashion. They were tearing up the insulation and going to the bathroom under the house, so I could not let them stay. If people would spay and neuter their animals I would not be forced to make that kind of choice.

[shaggy eel]

pong

[sinkspur]

Cats around my home are trapped and taken to the country where coyotes (hopefully) eat them. Sometimes I shoot them. I hate cats.

Well, you're not too popular either. What should we do with a crabby old man?

[catonsville]

CNN just ran a story on the incident showing the kitten, the barbecue pit and the apartment complex where it occurred.

Trash city. The media is on top of this. The bastard who did the deed will not get off so easily.

I write this as my 15 year old former stray Russian Blue lookalike cat enjoys a nap near me.

[Barbie Doll]

I'd take this jerk to the forest, tie him up naked to a pine tree (with rough bark), smear hot bacon grease all over his body and leave him there for the bears...

[kaylar]

He got it out of his a**. The law everywhere forbids cruelty to animals (one's own and those of others) ; the only difference is, in some locales it's a felony, in others merely a misdemeanor. The law requires animal owners to provide their animals (pets and livestock) with adequate food, shelter, and water. Some places also list 'medical care' , too. If an owner fails to provide these necessities, the animal can and will be seized, and the owner may be prosecuted (felony or misdemeanor, depending on local laws and /or severity of abuse or neglect).

In NO place is a person allowed to torture an animal merely because they own it. Even livestock must be butchered under regulations meant to provide as quick and painless a death as possible. I don't know why so many freepers chant that idiotic mantra,"If you own an animal, it's not a crime to do (whatever) to it" when the laws on animal cruelty and neglect everywhere contradict them.

[Texas Mom]

That is a cutie...

[Senator Pardek]

Sloth - Legally speaking, I believe people have a right to do whatever they want with their own property (not established in this article), even live animals.

Another Freeper who supports the repeal of all laws relating to bestiality!

[tomakaze]

RE:Charles C. Benoit, 24, was charged with animal abuse, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine
 
the guy sounds like some kind of sociopath (and his friends that sat there watching aren't much better) - but the penalty here is frigging ridiculous and flat out out of line. 5 years in prison? get real.

[tomakaze]

RE:What kind of sauce did they use?
 
Catsup?
[cue midget on the snare drum for a rimshot]

[The KG9 Kid]

"... I would be very interested to know the ethnic, religious, and racial composition of this "Group"</b<

"... Charles C. Benoit, 24, was charged with animal abuse..."

Sounds like typical redneck hick beergut trash.

[Britton J Wingfield]

rednecks, chollos, or any of many groups who think this kind of crap is funny.

[Genesis defender]

Cats around my home are trapped and taken to the country where coyotes (hopefully) eat them. Sometimes I shoot them. I hate cats.

So would you think these guys grilling a cat alive is okay?

Cruelty to animals is just a small step away from cruelty to humans.