Or: The Tale of the Bullet-Riddled Kitty Cat
I’ve spent at least an hour today trying to find a news story I heard about on Live 105.7’s Out to Lunch today, but I’ve been unsuccesful. The story revolved around a nice pet cat that turned into a monster, tried to kill its owners, and was shot - thirteen times - by officers of the Baltimore City Police Department.
I couldn’t find that story. I think Josh Spiegel made it up. Also? “Breaking news, whenever it feels like breaking” is used too much. He needs a new cute ender for his news segments. Anyway, didn’t find that story, did find this story:
Instinctively trying to protect her pets she grabbed Katie in an attempt to separate all of them, and it was then she believes she received the scratch on her arm. She eventually separated them with a garden rake and the invader flew out of the yard and across the street. Carefully Gwen calmed down her beloved pets. She checked them over and determined they had escaped unharmed thanks to their heavy-coated breeding and that she in fact was the only one who had suffered a scratch.
Across the street, the crazed feline immediately attacked another neighbors cat minding its business on its own front lawn. That cat didn’t fare as well as the pets next door and was badly bitten. At this point a gaggle of neighbor were out on the street comparing notes on the poor creature and the fact it had apparently been seen in the neighborhood for days. The question was what should be done? Someone called the police figuring the situation was dangerous and more than a little beyond a wait for Animal Control. Within minutes the police arrived and quickly assessed the situation. The cat, now slinking around the bushes at the front of our home, was shot on the spot. One bang, then another….Dead cat!
But, as I mentioned at the beginning, this was not the end of the story. As pet owners, most of us think that when we have our cats and dogs vaccinated for rabies, that’s it. Not so! The aftermath of this encounter was enormous. First of all, the cat across the street was not up to date in its shots, and they were ordered to put their cat down immediately. The children were devastated; the parents embarrassed and sad that their neglect had caused the immediate demise of their much loved family pet. These precautionary decisions were made before the results of any testing on the feral cat could be performed, and it was days before we heard that the results were conclusive — the cat did indeed have rabies!
“When Cats Go Bad.”
Indeed. Also: why you should never let your cats outside.