"Humane" officer guns down a litter of kittens in front of children

This has got to be one of the most horrific stories I've ever read. A woman calls for a Humane officer to come out and take a litter of kittens in her back yard off to the shelter. The so called "humane" officer shows up, determines on his own that the shelters are overcrowded and proceeds to retrieve a gun from his truck and kills all of the kittens right there on the spot with the woman's children looking on.

Cop Shot Litter of Kittens in Front of Screaming Children

On Monday, Ohio Humane Officer Barry Accorti shot and killed a litter of kittens in front of freaked-out children nearby. “He informed her that shelters were full and that these cats would be going to kitty heaven,” Ohio SPCA Executive Director Teresa Landon told the Sun News, “She assumed he would be trapping them or something and taking them to a shelter and they would be humanely euthanized if they were not adopted.”

“Instead, he went to his truck and got a gun, which she thought was a tranquilizer gun, and walked around to the back of the house and approximately 15 feet from her back door shot and killed the 8- to 10-week-old kittens.”

“Her children were upstairs in view of the windows. They started screaming and crying because they heard the gunshots. They started screaming, ‘Mommy, he’s killing the kittens,’” Landon said, “It’s heartbreaking… There is no excuse for it. It’s absolutely shameful that someone with the title of humane officer would do this.”

Alternet

The SPCA, to its credit, has called for the firing of this "humane" officer but, his supervisors are defending his actions, saying he acted appropriately to the situation.

His claim that the kittens would have been euthanized doesn't pass the smell test IMO. A few years ago, I was trying to adopt a kitten for our home. All the shelters couldn't keep them around for more than a few days before adopting them out and I only found one by answering a Craigslist ad within hours of it being posted.

Kittens get adopted as soon and they're old enough to live on their own. Its full grown cats they have problems adopting out. There is no damn excuse for euthanizing a group of perfectly healthy kittens ever.

How he isn't facing charges for firing a weapon in a residential neighborhood is beyond me. I hope his name gets out there and everybody in his neighborhood learns what he did. People like this need to be removed from society IMO.

This officer needs a serious psych evaluation. Even if he was going to kill the kittens, he needed to do it out of the presence (and earshot) of the kids...but also, who is he to determine if the shelters are crowded or not? Take them there, and let THEM sort it out man....

I'm not sure he should lose his job immediately over this, but I think he really needs to be examined, as someone who can do this, and in front of kids, probably shouldn't be carrying a firearm.

How he isn't facing charges for firing a weapon in a residential neighborhood is beyond me.

Chances are, law enforcement is fully permitted to do so in that state. Animal cruelty charges, on the other hand.....

Do we even know it was a residential area in city limits?

I can walk out of my house and fire a gun as much as I please (I often do, to scare away vultures), but I'm outside the city limits.

This officer and his governmental organization should be sued for millions by the woman for traumatizing her kids as well as "child abuse" and charged criminally with "reckless endangerment" IMO. BTW, isn''t discharging a firearm within the city limits prohibited in cities - especially when the situation is NOT life threatening.
Pathetic and disturbing to say the least.

ganjoa

I expect that there'll be a petition on Change.org over this, and when it shows up, I will sign the thing. Immediately.

reply to post by FortAnthem
How very sad! The guy should NEVER have done this within earshot or view of the children, regardless of whether there was room at the shelter. Our local shelter does not accept cats or kittens as there isn't enough room for them (small town, small shelter) but people dump them there on a regular basis after hours. The animal control officers don't have the heart to kill them, so if you go to the shelter you have to make your way through a huge herd of cats and kittens of all sorts to get to the front door. That guy should have just taken the kittens to the shelter and let them decide what to do with them.

P.S. If you are experiencing a kitten shortage you are welcome to take as many as you'd like off of my hands. We have 2 litters and another litter due any day now. With the shelter not accepting cats or kittens people often dump unwanted ones near houses where they see cats- and guess whose house gets dumped at?

The officer is a total idiot, maybe a psycho and shouldn't be allowed to carry a firearm

And I don't even like cats.

The poor kids that had to witness it, very sad.

then there is this...

“Instead, he went to his truck and got a gun, which she thought was a tranquilizer gun, and walked around to the back of the house and approximately 15 feet from her back door shot and killed the 8- to 10-week-old kittens.”

I am not sure what kind of person assumes that an animal control officer would use a tranquilizer gun on a litter of kittens.

Wrong on so many levels.

These children....to witness this....I'm speechless. He SHOULD lose his job; what kind of humane officer could just shoot a bunch of healthy kittens?

I'm flabbergasted that anyone could see this as justifiable.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
People like this need to be removed from society IMO.

edit on 6/12/13 by FortAnthem because:

____________ extra DIV

reply to post by FortAnthem


The kittens murdered are now...

I just have to wonder what the kittens were thinking in their last moments...perhaps...

reply to post by caladonea


Oooooo If I was there I woulda kicked his silly head in, I understand that some animals have to be put down but he didn't give them a chance did he?
Poor kids having to watch that also.
Doesn't he know If you do a cat harm they come for you?

That silly idiot!

Doesn't he know that those kittens can be used as bait to catch sharks!

[video removed]

MOD EDIT: Fake or not, gore, etc. is against the T&C (and this vid is additionally an offense to good taste... )

















































BTW. Just in case you don't know. This above video was proven to be a fake.

But yes I think what this person did shooting those kittens was a terrible way to do things.

hu•mane (hyuˈmeɪn or, often, yu-)

1. characterized by kindness, mercy, sympathy, etc.
2. inflicting as little pain as possible a humane killing

Just another confirmation that Michael Ellner was right...

"Just look at us.Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health. Lawyers destroy justice. Universities destroy knowledge. Governments destroy freedom. the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality." ~ Michael Ellner

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum

Originally posted by FortAnthem
People like this need to be removed from society IMO.

Removed in what way?

At the least, he should be put in jail for a while for what he did, at least until he figures out why what he did is wrong. He should also be shunned by his neighbors for being such a horrible person.

As much as my initial reaction was "they should do to him what he did to those kittens", upon further consideration, why stoop to his level when a swift kick to the balls might suffice?

reply to post by ganjoa

Originally posted by ganjoa
...traumatizing her kids

True story - I am still traumatized over my father shooting my pet pig right in front of me. He had NO IDEA it would damage me.

This is a very sad story and I feel for the children.

I have had to put several cats down through the years because neighbors poisoned them with antifreeze. It is always a traumatic experience for me. Feral cats who would not come to you no matter what, would come and be begging for some relief from their suffering. I feel for the children and hope they find healing. The officer needs to be fired at least.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by ganjoa

 

Originally posted by ganjoa
...traumatizing her kids

True story - I am still traumatized over my father shooting my pet pig right in front of me. He had NO IDEA it would damage me.

This is a very sad story and I feel for the children.

Same here.
My father shot my dog in the front yard because it jumped up on a girl that came to visit, getting mud on her dress. I never forgave him for that.

I get that people are going to complain about the way the officer handled this, but really? The lady called the officer to come take care of it and is now complaining that he shot them? She even said that she was told they would be going to kitty heaven prior to him getting a gun and shooting them.

In my opinion it is more her fault that the kittens are dead than the officer. She even had the chance to stop him after he said they were going to kitty heaven yet chose not to.

It is not the officers fault. I don't really see any humane way to die, but shooting them is probably more humane than gassing them....ends a lot quicker.

Lady should have kept her mouth shut in my opinion. Tired of all the people wanting something done then when it isn't done the way they had envisioned it they get upset. Maybe just maybe she should have taken care of it herself or possibly bring the kids inside.....who cares if she thought it was a tranquilizer gun...do you honestly think her kids know the difference between a real gun and a tranquilizer gun? Either one will traumatize them...she is just upset because it did not go down how she wanted it to.

I am not for animal cruelty, but feral cats are not exactly an animal that needs saving....they are domestic wild cats and are known to cause harm to the surrounding indigenous wild life.

This guy was absolutely bonkers and nothing can excuse his behavior for shooting the kittens like that- and in front of the kids no less!

But with that said, he did kind of bring the issue to light. We live in a society where we want everything to be nice and clean. We know dark things occur- we just want them to be done out of our presence. Out of sight, out of mind.

This officer's actions did bring the grotesque facts to life. Even the property owner who called the officer admitted to knowing the kittens would possibly be put down. That cold fact was proven to him while he had to witness it- instead of the kittens conveniently being removed as a burden to him where he expected them to be gassed to death and possibly writhing at their end.

he should have watch this before going about it

Equilibrium dogs scen

www.youtube.com...

Inexcusable that he has gotten off on charges. I've contacted the Ohio SPCA. Updates if given.