GUILTY PA - Holly Crawford for piercing kittens, Sweet Valley, 2011

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) -- A northeastern Pennsylvania woman is on trial to face animal cruelty charges for marketing "gothic kittens" with ear and neck piercings over the Internet.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PIERCED_KITTENS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Personally, I don't think this even be a crime! As long as people can lop off the ears and tails of dogs, declaw cats, and pierce human baby ears, circumcise baby boys....I see nothing wrong with with some woman poking a tiny hole in a cat ear and inserting some bling.

She was convicted on two counts. I am really glad.
What is the point of doing this to cats?
http://kdka.com/wireapnewsfnpa/Northeastern.Pennsylvania.woman.2.1468748.html

Egyptians pierced the ears of cats, and they worshipped them. I dont think she should have done it but she is a groomer and would know how to clean and make sure it wasnt harming the animal. I dont think she should have been charged with a crime, maybe fined.

jjenny said:

She was convicted on two counts. I am really glad.
What is the point of doing this to cats?
http://kdka.com/wireapnewsfnpa/Northeastern.Pennsylvania.woman.2.1468748.html

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I don't see the point of doing this to cats either, but I am surprised that it is even considered a crime. People regularly pierce cows' ears, pigs' ears, cut back the ears of certain breeds of dogs, etc. I've watched both pet dogs and cats get veterinary shots and never even blink--the skin around the neck is so loose that the animals appear to not even notice! Heck, my dog has a chip inserted under his skin so he can be identified and returned if he ever goes missing, and that didn't appear to hurt either.

The only thing different that this woman did was put decorative accessories into the piercings!

If it is truly cruelty to animals to do this, then what on earth are they going to do about all the tiny baby girls whose parents have had their ears pierced? I mean, if it is cruel to do this to a cat, then it is cruel to do this to a human, right?

House arrest for "Goth Kitten" peddler

Updated at 09:12 PM today

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - April 12, 2010 A northeastern Pennsylvania woman convicted of animal cruelty for marketing "gothic kittens" with ear and neck piercings over the Internet has been sentenced to six months of house arrest.

Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley also ordered 35-year-old Holly Crawford of Ross Township to close her dog grooming business for more than two years along with 21 months of additional evaluation and probation.

more here

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local/animals&id=7382257

That's really harsh. Doesn't "tagging" animals like deer and bears involve a piercing?

OH boy can't wait for all those parents who pierce the baby's ears to now get house arrest.

This case is so ridiculous.

I've seen cows moo in pain after having their horns lopped off and blood spurting out of them. Branding is not so fun for them either.

It was meant to be decorative - just like clipping a tail or pinning ears. Dumb dumb dumb legal system.

It the big scheme she was not trying to be cruel at all.

this is certainly strange to me, I haven't ever considered a pierced cat or dog. That being said, I agree witht he majority of the posters, we "alter" our pets in all kinds of other ways. dew claws, tails,ears, tagging, branding, dehorning, etc. I breed and show dogs, and they are (finally) reconsidering the docked tail issue with my breed. I have both docked and tailed dogs of this breed, but if all of them are allowed to keep their natural tail, that would suit me just fine. While I may not agree with piercing kittens for cosmetic purposes, I fail to see the difference in what she did vs. docking a tail or tagging an ear....

While checking out the recent stories of animal mutilations, I came across this story. For some reason it's just now being covered in the UK. When I first heard about the kittens, I had mixed feelings as we do tag animals and dock tails and ears.

However, I had not seen photos of the kittens or read about their demeanor. It's really sad but very instructive for me to really see why this was considered cruelty. IMO, it most certainly was. For those of you who know and love kitties, this will be tough to read and the photos hard to look at as we all know that healthy kittens are supposed to be playful and energetic. These little ones were most decidedly not. Their development seemed to be tremendously impacted by their treatment and piercings. I have no idea just what this woman's plan was for these kittens. All the "goth" people I've known love their pets and would find this just as cruel as I do. A submissive cat....why?

Hopefully, they've all been adopted by people who love kitties just the way they are.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rced-ears-guilty-animal-cruelty.html?ITO=1490

Woman who sold 'gothic' kittens with pierced ears guilty of animal cruelty

Missizzy said:

While checking out the recent stories of animal mutilations, I came across this story. For some reason it's just now being covered in the UK. When I first heard about the kittens, I had mixed feelings as we do tag animals and dock tails and ears.

However, I had not seen photos of the kittens or read about their demeanor. It's really sad but very instructive for me to really see why this was considered cruelty. IMO, it most certainly was. For those of you who know and love kitties, this will be tough to read and the photos hard to look at as we all know that healthy kittens are supposed to be playful and energetic. These little ones were most decidedly not. Their development seemed to be tremendously impacted by their treatment and piercings. I have no idea just what this woman's plan was for these kittens. All the "goth" people I've known love their pets and would find this just as cruel as I do. A submissive cat....why?

Hopefully, they've all been adopted by people who love kitties just the way they are.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rced-ears-guilty-animal-cruelty.html?ITO=1490

Woman who sold 'gothic' kittens with pierced ears guilty of animal cruelty

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ITA with you, Missizzy -- seeing the pics and reading about their demeanor clearly makes this a case of animal cruelty to me. The photos were very hard to look at -- AND -- made it totally clear to me how awful this is.

Ugh. Missizzy, I have got to stop looking at the links you post.

I had pictured maybe a little tiny stud (like, maybe, the one I have in my nose, which hurt like heck when I got it done). Seeing large-gauge piercings weighing down that poor kitten's ears...not OK. For the record, I also strongly disagree with declawing, ear docking, etc. I really hope those cats found good homes.

RLynne--I often think that I need to stop posting the things I do. And I will.....as soon as people start behaving themselves. I've actually wondered in the past why cats and dogs didn't sometimes sport an earring. Just like you, I pictured a tiny stud.

To be clear, I found the article I linked to and read it before coming to WS and looking to see if we had a thread. I then read this thread and realized that no one who posted could possibly have seen these photos. That's when I realized that we needed to have a look at this.

I now firmly believe that this woman had a sinister purpose in mind for these kittens. There's just no way that she could have continued with her piercings and docking and NOT noticed the behavioral differences. I'm glad the judge sentenced her.

I have to wonder, though, if she currently has pets. Here in Oregon, that right can be taken away. And there is close follow up. This woman does not deserve the honor of sharing her home with pets, IMO.

I know that there could be an argument made for many body modifications done on pets ie. neutering. A neutered male dog or cat will typically be calmer and less aggressive. He also won't mark (as much). Female cats and dogs who are spayed are spared many disorders and diseases. But there's an excellent argument to be made for neutering--no unwanted or unplanned kittens or puppies. Ear and tail docking seems to be fading as it's really unnecessary and I highly support that. This, however, was a very different situation, indeed. Pets are not accessories.

Missizzy said:

While checking out the recent stories of animal mutilations, I came across this story. For some reason it's just now being covered in the UK. When I first heard about the kittens, I had mixed feelings as we do tag animals and dock tails and ears.

However, I had not seen photos of the kittens or read about their demeanor. It's really sad but very instructive for me to really see why this was considered cruelty. IMO, it most certainly was. For those of you who know and love kitties, this will be tough to read and the photos hard to look at as we all know that healthy kittens are supposed to be playful and energetic. These little ones were most decidedly not. Their development seemed to be tremendously impacted by their treatment and piercings. I have no idea just what this woman's plan was for these kittens. All the "goth" people I've known love their pets and would find this just as cruel as I do. A submissive cat....why?

Hopefully, they've all been adopted by people who love kitties just the way they are.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rced-ears-guilty-animal-cruelty.html?ITO=1490

Woman who sold 'gothic' kittens with pierced ears guilty of animal cruelty

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Thanks for the link - don't like seeing this done to cats. I would think it is most annoying to a cat since unlike our stationary ears, cats rotate their ears to pinpoint the source of sounds.