We wrote about Rescue Ink earlier this year, and since then they’ve scored not only a book deal, but a National Geographic series as well.
National Geographic just premiered their TV show, Rescue Ink Unleashed, on Friday, Think Animal Cops with a twist: it’s a group of bikers with more than 1700 pounds of muscle, over 80 tattoos, and one unlikely mission: to rescue helpless, abandoned and abused animals. These tough guys are not afraid to go anywhere or confront anyone to save animals in danger.
Each one-hour episode of Rescue Ink Unleashed takes viewers on “ride-alongs” as members follow up on leads in the New York metro area.Taking an average of 100 calls a week at their headquarters on Long Island, they jump into their cars — or on their “hogs” — and confront alleged animal abusers, investigate stolen animals and firmly encourage owners to give up their pets if it’s in the best interest of the animals.
Our favorite is “Des,” known as “The Cat Man.” Des is a friend to all felines. Although he grew up in the tough neighborhoods of Jamaica, Queens, where survival included hanging with a gang, Des’ cat friends have given him a new purpose in life. Des gets called in anytime there’s a cat-astrophe.
The series is on the National Geographic channel on Fridays at 10pm.
WARNING: The following post discusses an act of animal cruelty in a recent Bronx cat killing and the action you can take to urge that justice be served.
Recently, in the Bronx, 17-year-old Cheyenne Cherry (pictured above) was arrested for torturing and killing a kitten (below, right) in what she described as an act of revenge against an ex-roommate. It was a particularly heinous act for which the accused has shown no remorse. According to published reports, Cherry confessed to the crime and allegedly told investigators “I hate cats.” Cherry dismissed the murder as a “practical joke.” Click here for details of the case.
Incredibly, despite a criminal record, Cherry was released without bail.
Cherry has a history of violence that appears to be escalating. In June 2008 she was arrested for larceny and extortion in an armed dognapping. She and her boyfriend held up a woman walking her dog at gunpoint, stole the dog, then sent friends to claim the $500 reward. The victim, Johan Castro, said, “They wonder why this little girl doesn’t learn right from wrong. “If she’s willing to kill a cat and steal my dog, what else will she do? She thinks she can beat the system.”
Last year Cherry was also arrested for robbing a man of his iPod at gunpoint. “It was just a joke,” Cherry claimed, after her arrest. She pleaded guilty to robbery and got five years probation. In 2007 she was arrested for assault.
Sounds like an unrepentant sociopath to me.
Please send letters to the following authorities, urging that Cherry be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that she is sentenced to mandatory psychological counseling and maximum jail time if she is convicted.
Robert T. Johnson, Bronx District Attorney
The Office of the Bronx County District Attorney
198 East 161st Street; Bronx, NY 10451
ph: 718-590-2000, 718-590-2312; fax: 718-590-2198
email: angueirl@bronxda.nyc.gov
Steven Reed, Director of Public Information
The Office of the Bronx County District Attorney
198 East 161st Street; Bronx, NY 10451
ph: 718-590-2235, 718-590-2234
Joe McCormack, Assistant District Attorney
Bronx County District Attorney’s Office
198 East 161st Street; Bronx, New York 10451
ph: 718-590-2000, 718-590-2026; fax: 718-781-1129
email: mccormaj@bronxda.nyc.gov
Nancy Borko, Senior Assistant District Attorney
Bronx District Attorney’s Office
215 East 161st Street; Bronx, NY 10451-3511
ph: 718-838-7114
Maria T. Rivero, Administrative Assistant District Attorney riverom@bronxda.nyc.gov
Anthony Girese, Counsel to the District Attorney
Bronx County District Attorney’s Office
198 East 161st Street; Bronx, New York 10451
ph: 718-590-2175; fax: 718-992-0545
email: giresea@bronxda.nyc.gov
Judge Dennis J. Boyle
G Correspondence Clerk
Bronx Supreme Court Criminal Division
851 Grand Concourse, Room 123
Bronx, NY 10451
The animal welfare organization Kinship Circle has provided the following sample letter. We strongly encourage modifying this letter to include your own thoughts and feelings, as opposed to simply copying and pasting, as it loses some impact when a prosecutor receives hundreds of identical letters. Also, where feasible, send a hard copy of the letter vs. an email for maximum impact.
Dear _________,
Thank you for recognizing public concern in the case of Tiger Lily, a kitten scorched alive inside an oven on May 6, 2009. I understand Cheyenne Cherry, 17, is charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty, burglary, arson, criminal trespass, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.
I respectfully ask for your utmost deliberation in the investigation of Cherry and her accomplice, who allegedly broke into ex-roommate Valerie Hernandez’s home and trapped Tiger Lily inside an activated stove. Apparently, they ransacked the apartment and raised the stove’s heat before fleeing with stolen items. The girls never heard Tiger Lily’s last screams and scratches against the oven door.
Please seek maximum adult incarceration of two years for felony animal cruelty. Cherry also faces possible jail terms of 15 years for second-degree burglary, one year for arson, and four years for criminal mischief. I urge you to hold both teens accountable. Both require psychological evaluation and therapy. Both should be barred from possessing or working with animals.
At the very least, they ought to be interned in a juvenile detention hall until age 18 (if applicable). Then, reassessment of the girls’ personality traits can determine if adult imprisonment is necessary.
Adolescents who commit brutal crimes against humans usually begin with animals. Columbine shooter Eric Harris, 18, smashed mice with a crowbar and set them on fire. Washington D.C. serial killer Lee Boyd Malvo killed stray cats with a slingshot. Kip Kinkle blew up a cow and burned a live cat. He then shot 25 classmates and murdered his parents in Springfield, Oregon. After Luke Woodham, 16, mortally stabbed his mother and shot nine others, he confessed to bludgeoning his dog with baseball bats and setting her on fire.
These murderers, like Cherry, were able to torture and kill without remorse. Indeed, the intentional burning of an animal is a “particularly significant predictor of violent and even homicidal behavior,” says Dr. Randall Lockwood of ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Initiatives and a frequent consultant for cruelty investigators, law enforcers and mental health professionals.
Cherry “thought we would play a joke on Valerie.” But she and her friend are not guilty of warped humor or bad choices. Roasting a defenseless kitten is the calculated action of a sociopath and a predator.
Thank you for prosecuting Cherry and her accomplice to the fullest degree allowed by law.
This week is American Humane’s Be Kind to Animals™ week, an event that’s been celebrated every year since 1915. In this annual tradition, American Humane asks all animal lovers to commemorate the role animals play in our lives, promote ways to continue to treat them humanely, and encourage others, especially children, to do the same.
While Be Kind to Animals Week is celebrated only once a year, there are ways people can be kind to animals every day. Here’s how:
Speak out for animals
Get informed about policies and legislation that can impact the animals in your community and throughout the country. Also, register to receive Action Alerts from American Humane — you’ll be able to speak out for animals with just the click of a mouse. Advocacy for animals can make a huge difference in their safety and well-being. Occasionally on The Cat’s Meow, I post stories about animal cruelty cases in which YOU can make a difference … by contacting judges and public officials urging the imposition of the stiffest possible sentence under the law, or by expressing your outrage when the defendants receive slap-on-the-wrist sentences. Taking a couple of minutes to contact public officials can go a long way toward ensuring there is always a zero-tolerance policy in animal cruelty cases. Learn how.
Report animal abuse
Animal cruelty and abuse is not only tragic for animals, but also an indicator that other forms of abuse such as domestic violence could be happening. If you see something that looks suspicious — a dog chained in your neighbor’s yard that looks underfed, a child putting a cat in a box and kicking it around the yard — don’t hesitate. Let someone know. Learn how.
Appreciate wildlife
All animals deserve to be treated humanly — family pets and animals in the wild. Create an inviting space in your yard and garden for butterflies, hummingbirds and other creatures. If wildlife comes too close to home, look for ways to coexist with animals or to protect your property humanely. Learn how.
Adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue
Every year, an estimated 3.7 million animals must be euthanized at our nation’s shelters because they could not be adopted into loving homes. Help animals find a second chance at happiness by adopting your next pet from your local shelter or rescue group. American Humane has tips to find the animal companion that’s right for you and develop a bond that will last a lifetime. Learn how.
Take care of your pet
Pets are like children who never grow up. They need you to help keep them healthy and safe throughout their lives. Keep your animal’s vaccinations up-to-date. Make sure he’s wearing proper identification. Take your pet to the veterinarian regularly. Know what it takes to be a responsible pet owner. Learn how.
Imagine enjoying a beautiful bike ride in glorious Spring weather and coming across a foreclosed home in which you learn that nearly 60 cats were abandoned without food or water?
If you’re Gail Silver with Silver Bells Rescue in Ohio, you mobilize immediately and do what needs to be done to keep those cats from being picked up by animal control and immediately euthanized. That included getting other rescue groups involved.
Lynne Heldman with Save Our Strays (SOS) immediately assisted by placing the easiest cats to catch, as well as trapping the cats that had the most urgent medical issues. Janet Corbett with Wildwood Pet Network interviewed potential fosters and adopters. Anita Barron with Pet Alliance worked to find fosters, resources and funding for this very large and expensive initiative.
In cooperation with the Cincinnati SPCA, several veterinary hospitals offered discounted services; Fannie Mae, the lender that owned the house also assisted; neighbors who live on the block where the cats were found came to their aid; fosters and other volunteers who heard the story showed up to help, nearly 60 cats were rescued or accounted for, including six cats and kittens who did not survive. Many of the rescued cats required extensive veterinary services to bring them back to health. Click here to read more about the rescue.
A group of artists from around the country created original art from images of the foreclosure cats and donated their work to raise money to fund the rescue efforts through the Foreclosure Cats Art Project. The work is dazzling, and although the originals have been successfully auctioned, you can purchase a calendar and other products with the images through the Foreclosure Cats Online Store.
The Foreclosure Cats Art Project was so successful that it spawned another rescue effort of a feral colony in an abandoned factory. The Factory Cats Project is raising money for TNR efforts at the abandoned factory, which also includes fostering, socializing and adopting out adoptable cats within that colony.
If you live in Ohio and can provide a home to one of the five remaining foreclosure cats or one of the factory cats, click one of the links below. Don’t live in Ohio? You can help by making a donation on the site or buying from their online store.
Daisy, the Jersey City tabby who was dumped in a park by Animal Control officers Aaron Jordan and John Marsh Jr. rather than taken to a shelter, was happily reunited today with her owner, Morgan Metius (above). The two-year-old indoor cat spent almost four days in the wilds of Lincoln Park and miraculously survived Monday’s snowstorm.
Jersey City Animal Care and Control’s supervising officer, Joe Frank, trapped Daisy in Lincoln Park using mackerel as bait, according to Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill. Frank had set out 15 traps throughout the park.
“She lost a little weight around the ribs, stinks to high heaven of mackerel, its purring more than ever and asleep in the place she belongs – at the foot of my bed!!!,” Morgan wrote on the Web site jclist. “A happy ending! Please understand that its not over for me. What happend is an outrage and needs not be swept under the rug. I am taking measures to ensure that ACOs will be treated as the law says appropriate and Animals lost can find saftey at a shelter EVERY TIME!!”
Pressured by animal lovers, the city is investigating the incident. A few of you have asked how to contact the mayor, so here is his contact info:
Jarramiah Healy MayorHealy@jcnj.org
City Hall – 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5200
Fax: (201) 547-4288/5442
City Councilman Steve Fulop has also launched an investigation:
Steve Fulop
City Hall, 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5315
Fax: (201) 547-4678
Contacting these individuals will help ensure that, now that the story has a happy ending, the ACOs are not let off the hook for their actions. Take a minute to email the mayor and let him know that Jordan and Marsh should not only be fired, but charged with animal cruelty and serve jail time.
Warning: The following post describes–in general terms–an act of animal cruelty.
On Friday, Pennsylvania Judge Paul Pozonsky sentenced Stanley Sebetich (who resides at 3 Oak Lane, Apt. 3R, Eighty Four PA, 15330) to probation, a ban on living with pets for a scant two years, and a $2500 fine for the killing of his girlfriend’s cat.
Sebetich pleaded guilty to slitting the cat’s throat in a bathtub, after which he skinned it, butchered it, cooked and ate it. Yet, unbelievably, Judge Pozonsky did not impose jail time, mandatory psychiatric treatment or a lifetime pet ban in his sentence.
Animal cruelty is a heinous enough crime in itself, but when the perpetrator is also channeling violence against a woman through the act, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that at some point he will abuse or kill a woman, and certainly, continue to abuse and kill animals. What are the odds that his violent behavior will escalate? And why didn’t he get a lifetime ban on living with pets?
Since I know you’re going to ask, here’s how to contact Judge Pozonsky:
Judge Paul Pozonsky
Washington County Courthouse
1 South Main Street
Suite 1004
Washington, PA 15301
Primary Phone: 724-228-6826
Those of you who’ve read about the Dewey the Library Cat know what a valuable addition a cat can be to a library. In Poland recently, a library cat name Kubus (pictured above) was recently evicted by an evil regional director. Please join me in an email campaign to return Kubus to his rightful place in the library. Here are the details:
@catster HELP A POLISH DEWEY KICKED OUT FROM A LIBRARY!
I just read a heartbreaking article in a Polish leading newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza about Polish Dewey… his name is Kubus and he just was kicked out from a small library where he was everybody’s favorite pet by a heartless regional director! The librarians and hundreds of readers are fighting to reestablish Kubus’s right to live in the library.
Interesting that original Dewey’s story is being used to fight for Kubus’s rights!
Please email the director: dyrektor@mbp.tychy.pl
I bet that emails of support for Kubus send from abroad will help all Polish supporters…
I suggest:
Subject: Support for Kubus from Your Town, Your Country
I support the right of cat Kubus to live in the library. Please change your decision removing Kubus from his home.
PLEASE if you are an animal lover, or just have a sense of moral obligation, please let other like-minded Washington state residents know about this bill and ask them to help.
There is currently a Draft Spay/Neuter Bill scheduled for 2009 in Washington State: H-0075.2/09. For more information, go to www.savewashingtonpets.org
The purpose of the bill is to provide funding to assist low-income owners of cats and dogs to obtain affordable spay/neuter surgeries, and to provide for spay/neuter surgeries on feral and free-roaming cats. The bill does not make spay/neuter surgery mandatory.
Click here for more information. Below is a draft letter that you can personalize and send it to your local legislator:
Dear (Senator or Representative) _________,
I am asking for your support of spay/neuter legislation for Washington State. As my district legislator, I urge you to support or cosponsor bill (H-0075.2/09) that has been drafted for this purpose.
Animal homelessness is a serious problem in this state that has not been adequately addressed. Tens of thousands of adoptable animals are killed in Washington State’s shelters each year simply because there are not homes for them. This is occurring despite the best efforts of our animal welfare community.
We think that the solution is to create an aggressive program to make spay/neuter surgery for cats and dogs affordable and convenient throughout our state to low-income pet owners. These are difficult economic times and we know how challenging it will be to enact legislation to fund such a program. Nevertheless, the problem is not going away, and spay/neuter surgery for dogs and cat is not getting more affordable for those who are low income.
This situation is nothing short of an emergency that needs attention now. Several other states have adopted similar legislation to address this problem. The bill that has been drafted takes the best elements of other states’ programs and will work in Washington State.
For reference, the draft bill and much more information are provided on the website www.savewashingtonpets.org. There you’ll see that the benefits I’m talking about are not just humanitarian. There are potential cost savings to shelters and animal control agencies, and we expect the program will reduce injuries, costs, and liability arising from dog bites if more animals are altered (most dogs that cause serious bite injuries are not surgically sterilized). As you know, it is not unusual to read in our local papers about incidents involving aggressive dogs that seriously injure people and kill or maul other pets.
Please let me know that you will support this bill. I would appreciate a meeting with you to explain why this is needed and how important it is for our legislative district. If you have questions, feel free to contact me or the bill’s coordinators, Rick Hall and Andrea Logan. Rick and Andrea may be reached at contact@savewashingtonpets.org.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Affiliation
Address
Telephone Number
cc: Rick Hall and Andrea Logan
Save Washington Pets
PO Box 176
North Bend, WA 98045-0176
Lastly, we learned of the latest in the battle facing animals, and this comes from somewhere unexpected…California may become the first state to tax veterinary services. That’s right! Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to use tax money to help the state’s budget crisis by taxing so-called “luxury” items such as amusement parks, sporting events, golf, and vet services.
Everyday ACR receives calls from individuals surrendering their pets because they can no longer afford them in today’s economy, so just think how many more pets are likely to be given up or how many will simply forego a trip to the vet, if this bill is passed.
In an online article, Judie Mancuso, president of Social Compassion in Legislation said this, “Our companion animals are family members, and taking care of their health is a responsibility, not a discretionary spending decision like golf or furniture repair.” ACR fully agrees with her statement. If passed by the legislature, the tax will be about 9% and will take effect Feb. 1, 2009.
To stop this legislation and to tell Gov. Schwarzenegger that companion animals are “family” not “luxury items,” please contact his office at:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160
Email: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email (follow this link to the contact form)
she described as an act of revenge against an ex-roommate. It was a particularly heinous act for which the accused has shown no remorse. According to published reports, Cherry confessed to the crime and allegedly told investigators “I hate cats.” Cherry dismissed the murder as a “practical joke.” 
Report animal abuse
PLEASE if you are an animal lover, or just have a sense of moral obligation, please let other like-minded Washington state residents know about this bill and ask them to help.
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