"I'm awesome!" Says Vet Who Shot Cat In The Head With Bow and Arrow/AKA Questions To Ask Your Vet

cornflake · Apr 19, 2015

"I'm awesome!" Says Vet Who Shot Cat In The Head With Bow and Arrow/AKA Questions To Ask Your Vet

Before choosing a practicing doctor of veterinary medicine to care for your beloved animals, you may want to check the person's credentials, schooling, talk about his or her general practices, and, oh yeah, ask what he or she would do upon seeing a cat (housecat, not like, puma) wandering in his or her yard.

A. put out some cat food.

B. visually assess the animal for any signs of distress or ill health

C. hurry to get your bow and arrow, shoot it in the head, then post picture of yourself holding the dead cat, labelling yourself vet of the year, to facebook.

D. Check to see if any neighbours are missing a cat that matches that description.

If the vet answered A, B or D, proceed with your conversation.

If the vet answered C, it's probably this chick, and you might want to back slowly away without making any sudden movements.

Yes, seriously.

A woman who is apparently an actual, licensed vet saw a housecat-like cat in her yard, went to get a bow and arrow, shot it through the head, posted a grinning pic of herself holding its lifeless body up, on facebook, with this lovely caption -

"my first bow kill lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through its head! Vet of the year award ... gladly accepted."

When the Internet promptly went insane and called for her firing (she worked at a multi-vet clinic, did not have her own practice), she responded thusly -

"no I did not lose my job. Lol. Psshh. Like someone would get rid of me. I'm awesome!"

They got rid of her. The clinic issued a strongly-worded statement saying they were, basically, appalled, covered her name on their plaque thing with duct tape, and scrubbed her from their website.

The cops are now investigating. Besides that it's not cool to just go bowhunting stray cats, even in Texas, the cat seems to have not been feral, or stray, after all.

There are reports that an elderly neighbourhood couple were looking for their orange-and-white cat, Tiger, who went missing the same day the pic was posted.

Anyone doing it I'd think was a sick fucking loon but - a vet? I don't even know what to do with this. I can't imagine how this happens. It's not like you become a vet by accident. It's harder to get into vet school than medical school in this country; it's crazy challenging and competitive.

Don't vets, you know, all at least really LIKE animals? My vet's a vegetarian, as are nearly all the vets in the practice, because they love animals and thus won't eat them. I'm pretty sure they're not out hunting any, let alone hunting obvious housecats that happen to wander by. Just... what the hell?

cornflake · Apr 19, 2015

I'm all for being sure before you charge someone but a. she's clearly not denying this, b. get a goddamned warrant to search her property for evidence like, say, the cat, as animal cruelty is a crime, even in Texas, and c. I'd think the clinic hierarchy spoke to her before canning her loony ass, so why not go ask them if she admitted to it?

I'm apparently all about the lettered lists today.

As for her location, I admit the first story about this I read, I got one paragraph in, guessed Texas, and was proven right two graphs later.

frimble3 · Apr 19, 2015

On the other hand, this happening in Texas, if the elderly couple who apparently lost a cat decide that she's guilty, get their guns, and shoot her, will the sheriff feel obliged to do anything, or just say "That's what we do to rustlers in these parts"?

Fruitbat · Apr 19, 2015

frimble3 said:
On the other hand, this happening in Texas, if the elderly couple who apparently lost a cat decide that she's guilty, get their guns, and shoot her, will the sheriff feel obliged to do anything, or just say "That's what we do to rustlers in these parts"?

Yes! After all, they may not feel like talking to him after they videotape the killing, either.

Roxxsmom · Apr 19, 2015

Cruelty of this act aside (and the fact that it's a veterinarian, of all things, who did it), how stupid is it to post a picture of yourself with the dead animal on facebook. Did she expect a different outcome than disgust and outrage?

cornflake · Apr 19, 2015

Roxxsmom said:
Cruelty of this act aside (and the fact that it's a veterinarian, of all things, who did it), how stupid is it to post a picture of yourself with the dead animal on facebook. Did she expect a different outcome than disgust and outrage?

Which is where, honestly, I circle right back to, 'she's a vet, wtf??'

I mean there are a lot of stupid people. There are stupid educated people but in my general experience they tend to be educated not because they tried really hard.

This is a well-educated person in a very, very competitive field. It's not like vet is a fallback in case a career in retail doesn't work out.

On top of that, vets generally come into contact with people who care a lot about and are very attached to animals. They spend all their working hours with those people. The practice seems to be a regular small-animal type deal, so this would seem to be her reality.

Thus, as you say, how the hell would she think this wouldn't be the outcome? Who knows how upset people can get over animals better than vets?

LittlePinto · Apr 19, 2015

I'm going to throw in that I've seen a lot of people say that's how people in the country handle stray cats.

It isn't. At least, not in my part of Texas.

Feral and semi-feral cats, provided they are neutered and healthy, are very beneficial in clearing out venomous snakes and unwanted rodents. Their primary cause of death is coyotes. If they're a nuisance in your garden or something you might spray them with a hose but most people live and let live.

And, if for some reason you do have to put an animal down yourself? You don't treat it like a trophy kill.

Finally, to offset that yahoo, I have the best vet. He's like James Herriot. He's an old country vet who has seen it all and treats animals and their owners sensibly and with compassion. He does a low-cost vaccination clinic at the local feed store every month so that people can get their ranch dogs and barn cats vaccinated without difficulty. He sees it as an extension of his oath to do what he can to raise vaccination rates to protect the public against rabies. He's also helped me save quite a few cats that were in rough shape.

buz · Apr 19, 2015

cornflake said:
Which is where, honestly, I circle right back to, 'she's a vet, wtf??'

I mean there are a lot of stupid people. There are stupid educated people but in my general experience they tend to be educated not because they tried really hard.

This is a well-educated person in a very, very competitive field. It's not like vet is a fallback in case a career in retail doesn't work out.

Being smart in some areas doesn't negate the possibility of being stupid in others.

And someone can try really hard, indeed, and be educated, and still be sporting a gap in sense.

Then there's just assholery and arrogance combined to help shroud over that gap in sense, even if the person was smart enough to see it otherwise

Celia Cyanide · Apr 19, 2015

I don't know what to say to this. I don't understand how anyone can see a cat in their yard and decide the right thing to do is to shoot it in the head. How can you be threatened by a cat? It's not a coyote, or even a raccoon. Feral cats can be taken to the humane society.

Fruitbat · Apr 19, 2015

I was thinking maybe a manic episode or some other temporary loss of full faculties. However, wasn't her mother boasting about taking the photos? (I can't find where it said that now). Both of them lost it at the same time? That doesn't sound all that likely...

Ravioli · Apr 19, 2015

Gonna get banhammered if I post here what I wish upon this woman and her ilk, so I'm just going to hate silently.

Teinz · Apr 19, 2015

Roxxsmom said:
Cruelty of this act aside (and the fact that it's a veterinarian, of all things, who did it), how stupid is it to post a picture of yourself with the dead animal on facebook. Did she expect a different outcome than disgust and outrage?

That's what I was thinking. She's either the Queen of Trolls, or extremely stupid. Or, which is even more worrying, she thinks she's done nothing wrong.

Brutal Mustang · Apr 19, 2015

LittlePinto said:
I'm going to throw in that I've seen a lot of people say that's how people in the country handle stray cats.

It isn't. At least, not in my part of Texas.

Feral and semi-feral cats, provided they are neutered and healthy, are very beneficial in clearing out venomous snakes and unwanted rodents. Their primary cause of death is coyotes. If they're a nuisance in your garden or something you might spray them with a hose but most people live and let live.

Yes, same here in my part of rural Colorado. Farmers generally want cats, but can't keep up their population because of the eagles and coyotes. So cats are a bit of a commodity out here.

Ari Meermans · Apr 19, 2015

Same here. When I was growing up, keeping the barn cat population up wasn't always the easiest thing to do.

I am glad to know her name, though. Should my "kids" get sick as they're prone to do when we're out and about, she won't be taking care of them. And I'll have to think long and hard about any clinic that employs her.

robjvargas · Apr 19, 2015

Every feral cat I've encountered is leery of humans and wary in our presence.

And she bow-shot one in the head?

I don't believe this cat was feral, nor that she believed that, either.

CassandraW · Apr 19, 2015

Teinz said:
That's what I was thinking. She's either the Queen of Trolls, or extremely stupid. Or, which is even more worrying, she thinks she's done nothing wrong.

she sounds like a narcissist -- convinced she's awesome and can do no wrong, and that everyone must surely recognize it.

Ravioli · Apr 19, 2015

I don't even get the problem with feral cats! Here in Israel we have hundreds of thousands, you don't see anyone murdering them! We love them. We volunteer to alter them, we feed and water them, and we greet them in passing. Ooooh cat with no owner big f*cking deal LET IT LIVE.

Gretad08 · Apr 19, 2015

We have a stray in our neighborhood. I love that thing. Everyone feeds her, and she repays us by hunting all the little pests in the area. I watched her kill some small rodent the other day, which was actually a little disturbing, but just a part of life. This lady is a lunatic.

rugcat · Apr 19, 2015

NaeimGiladisLegacy said:
I don't even get the problem with feral cats! Here in Israel we have hundreds of thousands, you don't see anyone murdering them! We love them. We volunteer to alter them, we feed and water them, and we greet them in passing. Ooooh cat with no owner big f*cking deal LET IT LIVE.

Feral cats absolutely decimate native bird life.

Here in San Francisco, there's a program to trap, neuter, and release them. There are also many people who feed them on a regular basis at a designated place, and as result they don't bother the wildlife nearly as much.

Feral cats and stray cats are two different things. I've been adopted several times over the years by cats whose owners simply moved away and left them to fend for themselves. They simply moved in and took over my house.

True feral cats, on the other hand, rarely can be socialized enough to make pets, and most of them won't let anyone get near them, period. That's no reason to kill them of course, and this particular woman's actions were simply disgusting.

DancingMaenid · Apr 19, 2015

In another article I saw on this (which I can't find at the moment), some group is claiming that the cat she killed was actually a foster cat that they were taking care of this (whether that's the case or if this woman was aware of it at the time is unknown).

In any case, there are so many things that she did wrong, here.

One, a vet taking pleasure in killing an animal is disturbing. If she's so blase and even happy about killing a feral (or believed to be feral) cat, who's going to trust her with their pets? And who's going to trust her to be suitably sympathetic if, for example, they need to have a pet euthanized?

Two, a vet of all people should know the importance of verifying a cat's "identity." Vets are often in a position where they come across animals that may be strays but may also be someone's lost pet. It concerns me that she may have killed this cat without knowing for sure whether it was feral.

Finally, all the vets I've known, personally, have been big supporters of rescues and spay-and-release programs. I've never known a vet who was okay with killing ferals/strays as a first approach.

There are some instances where killing or using force against cats who come onto your property may be legally justified. But ethically, I can't imagine why anyone, let alone someone in a field devoted to caring for animals, would like killing a cat and prefer to do that as opposed to any of the several alternatives you can try if a cat is genuinely causing trouble on your property.

AZ_Dawn · Apr 19, 2015

Celia Cyanide said:
I don't know what to say to this. I don't understand how anyone can see a cat in their yard and decide the right thing to do is to shoot it in the head.

I could see how someone might justify killing a feral cat (it's eating the chickens, the county issued a cat-borne rabies alert, etc.), but I suspect none of them apply to this case. Heck, it doesn't even sound like a case of I-hate-cats-with-a-burning-passion. It seems to me like she did it just for the heck of it.

Feral cats can be taken to the humane society

Wish it were that simple. My dad's workplace had a problem with feral cats. They were told by Animal Control, the Human Society, and the local no-kill cat shelter that they couldn't take in adult feral cats. The cat shelter would gladly trap, neuter, and release them, though. In the same area they trapped the cats. Where the cats were a problem in the first place. Go figure.

Monkey · Apr 19, 2015

I live in rural Texas, and am a good shot with my compound bow. About a week ago, a massive tom showed up in my yard. I chased him off, but he kept coming back. After a few rounds of this, I got tired of chasing him off. I complained to my mom and MIL that I hadn't wanted another cat, but they both shrugged and laughed. What can you do? Keeping a cat out of your yard is almost impossible if he wants to be there and you already have outdoor cats. So we named his big fluffy butt Titan and he's already spoiled rotten. It genuinely never occurred to any of us for me to shoot him, not that I would ever do such a thing.

DancingMaenid · Apr 19, 2015

AZ_Dawn said:
I could see how someone might justify killing a feral cat (it's eating the chickens, the county issued a cat-borne rabies alert, etc.), but I suspect none of them apply to this case. Heck, it doesn't even sound like a case of I-hate-cats-with-a-burning-passion. It seems to me like she did it just for the heck of it.

Yep. Also, I don't get any sense that this was a cat she had a recurring problem with. One encounter with a feral cat generally isn't enough to decide that the cat is a menace. And if you have a problem with feral cats coming onto your property and causing trouble, there are often some other things you can try first before resorting to killing them. The other steps might not always work, but unless there's an immediate danger, I can't see any excuse not to try humane means of discouraging troublesome cats before you resort to violence.

Fruitbat · Apr 19, 2015

Unless there's some country cat thing that is flying completely over my head, my guess is she had some type of psychotic episode or was on a strong mood altering drug. The whole thing is just too bonkers!

LittlePinto · Apr 19, 2015

Fruitbat said:
Unless there's some country cat thing that is flying completely over my head, my guess is she had some type of psychotic episode or was on a strong mood altering drug. The whole thing is just too bonkers!

Well, here's an old blog that is allegedly hers.

At the bottom of the page, under "A little about me," it reads:

Current interests: Living my days to the fullest, finding the meaning of happiness, killing things or trying to kill things (animals, a full glass of whiskey, hangovers, etc)...

The list goes on for quite some time so I cut it a bit short. The "killing things" refers, I think, to her being a hunter. Of course, responsible hunters know what appropriate game is.

"I'm awesome!" Says Vet Who Shot Cat In The Head With Bow and Arrow/AKA Questions To Ask Your Vet

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