The Many Uses for Duct-Tape

File this under “Just when you think you’ve heard it all.”

I almost tripped over myself on the treadmill the other day when the image of a cat wrapped in duct tape and struggling to move showed up on the TV screen at the gym. The sound wasn’t on and the image came on and off so quickly, I wasn’t able to make out just what the story was about until I got home later and Googled it.

The little information that unfolded was that a cat, wrapped neck to tail in duct tape, had been found in someone’s yard and reported to the SPCA. The culprit was later discovered to be a 19-year-old man who, for reasons known only to him, wrapped up the cat. After leaving it like that in his yard for several hours, he couldn’t take the cat’s wailing, put it in a bag and threw it into a neighbor’s yard. A disjointed statement inserted into the story said the man had lost his father and brother to street violence and obviously has some “issues.” I’d say so.

Perhaps even more disturbing were the poll results for the story on the news channel’s website. While 80% of the readers were angered and 10% were saddened by the story, 8% found it funny. Funny?? That people would find this kind of thing amusing is a pretty frightening statement in my book. I regularly see clients who tell me their adopted pet had been abused before being rescued. I tend to be a bit skeptical that such a high percentage of animals are abused before ending up in shelters or rescues, but maybe I’m wrong. If such a large number of people are capable of finding humor in an animal’s suffering, who is to say there aren’t that many people who find acts of cruelty fun?

I can only hope I’m wrong. Maybe the people who responded to the poll were just kids – teens that watch reality shows and get a laugh out of watching other peoples’ misfortunes and embarrassments. Hmm…come to think of it, I don’t really think that is real amusing, either.

Well, at least I can take some comfort in knowing there are still people out there who really do care about their pets – the clients that come in and do whatever they can to keep their 4-legged family members healthy. I’m talking about the ones who are willing to take in pets in need of a good home and the 90% who are saddened or angered by stories of animal abuse.

As for the rest, you and I are not likely to see them in our practices. The man that duct-taped the cat will be fined and may even spend up to 2 years in prison. Or maybe the Philadelphia Eagles will sign him up.