Is it correct and legal to kill an injured animal? SA man charged for killing a suffering cat.

A South African comedian has been charged with animal cruelty for chopping off a cat's head.
It sounds like a ghastly crime, but the cat was severely injured after it had wandered onto the comedian's property, and had been attacked by his dogs.

I've seen somebody trying to kill a cat that had a twisted spine after it had been hit by a car, and it was the most traumatic thing to see, because he didn't manage it, and just made things worse until somebody managed to shovel the cat into a box to be euthanized by the vet. So the fact that this cat was dispatched with probably one blow was humane.

I couldn't do it, not even to a dove that was savaged by a cat.

I'm just wondering if it's a morally correct or even legal thing to do?

Cape Town comedian Mark Sampson is expected to be charged with animal cruelty for allegedly chopping off the head of a cat, it was reported on Thursday. The Cape Argus reported that Sampson apparently ended the cat's life in November because it was critically injured after being attacked by his dogs on his property. "I am an animal lover and empathetic person. The cat was suffering greatly and it upset me very much. I took what I thought to be the most appropriate course of action," he told the newspaper. Sampson said an operator at the National Council of Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) unofficially advised him to put the cat down so it would not suffer.

The NSPCA however denied they advised Sampson to kill the animal, and from the latest news it appears he will be charged.

www.timeslive.co.za...

reply to post by halfoldman

It is moral, my problem is that the people who do this are often charged with animal indecency and possible weapons charges. A guy I know finds it difficult to get work due to an animal indecency charge because he killed a kangaroo that his car had hit and it was bleeding out.

reply to post by halfoldman

I'm just wondering if it's a morally correct or even legal thing to do?

Of course it is the morally correct thing to do when an animal has been injured badly and is suffering in pain. Farmers put down their horses and cattle all the time when ever they get injured badly. I see nothing wrong with what this man did, he put it out of it's misery. It's just because we have this stigma attached to death that we can't remain rational and logical in situations like this, instead we let our emotions overrun us and we fail to see what this man did was actually the humane thing to do.

reply to post by halfoldman


I live in Australia. I have contacted the authorities here previously about this very thing. It is legal to kill an animal if that animal is suffering. But - it must be done humanely. There is a fine line.

I think it´s a major error in judgement to kill an animal just because it is suffering. Imagine if we did the same thing to humans? Would that be right? Every suffering human should be killed?

The hobo in the alley, just cut off his head to spare him the suffering?

Come on...

reply to post by Truthandinfo

What would the fine line be?

Would what the comedian did to the cat fall on the right side of the line?

It seems quite gory, but not everybody has a firearm.

There is more to to this story than has been told...

Originally posted by NeoVain
I think it´s a major error in judgement to kill an animal just because it is suffering. Imagine if we did the same thing to humans? Would that be right? Every suffering human should be killed?

The hobo in the alley, just cut off his head to spare him the suffering?

Come on...

I would kill you if you where suffering...

If it was a survival situation and you where limiting my options for survival I would simply kill you, in your sleep, when you weren't looking, what ever. It is either me or you.

Originally posted by NeoVain
I think it´s a major error in judgement to kill an animal just because it is suffering. Imagine if we did the same thing to humans? Would that be right? Every suffering human should be killed?

If the person was injured badly enough, I would say, yes, it is absolutely humane to put that person out of their misery. No one wants to live life in excruciating pain. Furthermore, we are humans so we naturally take better care of other humans. We hardly have the resources as it is to properly care for all the humans on this planet. Yet you expect us to also take care of all the animals on this planet. That is absurd and simply wont happen. Many people do take injured animals to a veterinarian... but in some cases there is no point in trying to help the animal because they have been injured so damn badly... why put them through all that agonizing pain and distress, when even if they did manage to some how heal they would never be able to do all the thing they once could, they would most likely be confined to a bed and would require constant assistance and looking after from some one with enough time to spare. Not to mention, in some cases the vet will put the animal down if they are hurt too badly.

halfoldman
I think what he did was the right thing..Why let an animal suffer..I live on a farm and have had to shot some of my cattle over the years due to horrible injury's..

I don't think i would have chopped the cats head off but i know i would have shot it but with that being said not everyone owns a gun..I think charges should be drop on this man..peace,sugarcookie1

reply to post by halfoldman


as another poster points out, CATS run out into the road,, often

I saw a cat get run over, about 50feet in front of me, by another car, going the speed limit..

i stopped. the other car may not even had knowen..

the cat was totally ((-edit-- for lack of words--)) gonna die a horribly painful death..

i did what seemed the right thing to do,, and (opinion here) i believe the cat ASKED me for help..

there was NO doubt,, it was gonna pass away .. i just hurried the process.

try telling that to your spouse.. it is the one thing i wish i never shared with another,,

but in MY heart of hearts,, i think i did the right thing..

Incidentally, I just read that Mark Sampson has a degree in Applied Biology and Medicine, and he worked at a UK hospital and a Red Cross Children's Hospital in SA.

I'm not sure that makes the case more or less gruesome, but it suggests he had some idea of what he was doing.

reply to post by halfoldman


I wouldn't be able to do it without a firearm.
Physical contact is just too real for me.
I'm a baby, about this kind of thing.

Still I would have wanted to kill it, and given that I had possession of a firearm, or if I could get a person willing to be more physical to do it, I would.

I would be talking to it the whole time though, and holding it.
heh...

Thinking about it the other way, If any of you do that to my cat, Id come after you... Dang I have double standards here. I cannot reconscile this... hmmm...

Originally posted by mileysubet
There is more to to this story than has been told...

I'd love to hear any updates or more info.
This article was the latest I found.
Or do you smell a rat and suspect something more happened?

reply to post by halfoldman


I think it comes down to whether the animal is killed quickly and does not suffer too long.

The RSPCA in Australia have said that if you kill an animal quickly - regardless if the animal is injured or not - you are not doing anything wrong. If you however try to kill an animal and fail, and then have to try again and again - that is animal abuse and you would be charged.

If this guy chopped off a cat's head and he did it quickly, there would be no problem. I think it comes down to whether the cat was suffering badly and could not be saved - or there was no way to take the cat to the authorities to put down.

However, I have seen police officers shoot animals to put them out of their misery. Some police officers are not good shots. They have had to try again. Possibly they could be charged with animal abuse?

reply to post by halfoldman


Personally, I do not condone or agree with the killing of animals to 'save them', whatsoever. I feel it is not our decision to make, nor our place to decide we are helping someone by killing them. If they are so far gone, why not let nature take its course? It is not your job to judge nor control the life of any other being I believe even if an animal. I feel we are slacking if the first thing to do when we see an animal in pain is to kill it instead of help it. I seriously think life will take care of it, if it is their time to die, everyone has their own time to go. I respect every ones decision on this. I think I am just such an animal lover my way to take action with sick or hurt animals would be to help them, not kill them. Maybe I am just different though. There is always someone out there willing to help the animal you are not, just saying.

Another article has a little bit more detail.
Sampson chopped off the cat's head with a shovel.
However, he says the incident traumatized him so much that he needed counseling, but considering the substantial drive to a NSPCA vet, he had made the right choice.
He also claims both the neighbor and the NSPCA have backtracked on their previous statements on the matter.
The neighbor says he had better options and wasn't qualified to kill the cat.
www.iol.co.za...

I think Sampson should sue the neighbor for the trauma caused by her negligence of the cat.

What would nature's course have been?
Letting the dogs back out?

What if that happens and you don't have a car to get the animal to a vet?
And then you must hear that tormented animal until some officer arrives?

I can understand the spite of a neighbor, but I'm not sure what the NSPCA's game is here.
I think their officer did tell him to kill it, and now they want to cover that up.

Originally posted by Katharos62191
reply to post by halfoldman

 

Personally, I do not condone or agree with the killing of animals to 'save them', whatsoever. I feel it is not our decision to make, nor our place to decide we are helping someone by killing them. If they are so far gone, why not let nature take its course? It is not your job to judge nor control the life of any other being I believe even if an animal. I feel we are slacking if the first thing to do when we see an animal in pain is to kill it instead of help it. I seriously think life will take care of it, if it is their time to die, everyone has their own time to go. I respect every ones decision on this. I think I am just such an animal lover my way to take action with sick or hurt animals would be to help them, not kill them. Maybe I am just different though. There is always someone out there willing to help the animal you are not, just saying.

You havn't ever seen a dying animal then...

I had a cat that had a kitten. Well it had kittens but we only kept one, and interviewed families for the rest.
Well, the kitten we kept grew to be about 1 years old. He was killed by a yellow pick up truck. Still remember my older brother crushing a rocking chair against the brick wall... He was irrate. Pissed, and crying...

The next day the cat's mother was hit by a car. I'm almost sure it was suicide. She did it right in front of the house. She didn't die though... She somehow crawled up into the yard. I found her with a crushed pelvis, bloody and trampled looking.

She writhed and writhed and called out in pain for hours, and hours...

I even think she looked at me with eyes that said "please... Please, I don't want to be here."

Being with hippy parents we just watched the cat suffer... She layed there bleeding with crushed bones for about 4.5 hours...



Those eyes...
I wish we had just killed her. For real. She was asking me for help. Distant help... Not like ow this hurts... It was like, distant death please let me go look...

I've had to put animals down. It wasn't fun, but I knew it was right.

It's easy for me.

If it had been my cat and it had been mangled by a neighbours dogs, BUT it was not going to die immediately, then I would do anything within my power to save it. If it had to be put down, and there was no alternative, then I would be the one to do it.

If I had simply found out that my pet cat had been mangled by the neighbours dog and then the neighbour had chopped my cats head off with a shovel, I don't care what the situation would be, I'd come at him.

Lol as for charging the neighbour for the trauma this guy suffered? ... lol?

I've had many cats over the years. Seen more than my fair share of loved pets run over by scumbags who purposely swerve to connect them... this on an open road with no neighbours or anything.

If you're the sort of person who thinks of a cat as a pest, you'll have no problem with the topic at hand. I on the other hand, certainly would if it had been something I could have done something about.