Officer Who Gunned Down Mother and Kittens Found Innocent
On Friday, West Seneca, NY judge Richard B. Scott ruled that animal control officer Frederick S. Grasso (right) was justified when he gunned down a mother cat and two of her kittens at an apartment complex last June. (Four other kittens were unharmed and have since been adopted.)
According to testimony, the apartment manager saw the mother cat hissing and spitting in the basement of the complex and sought help from the SPCA but was turned down. Animal control was called, and Grasso responded. Grasso testified that the three cats came at him, hissing and spitting. He went back to his vehicle, grabbed his rifle and shot the cats.
According to Judge Scott, Grasso “took action he deemed necessary and shot three cats. At that time and place, the animal control officer had to make a decision. The court feels no crime was committed. The community might think shooting three cats sounds terrible in and of itself. . . . I agree it sounds terrible, in and of itself. But shooting the cats violated nothing.”
Grasso faced two unclassified misdemeanor charges for allegedly violating the state’s Agriculture and Markets Law. The first count charged him with cruelty to animals and the other alleged he euthanized a dog or cat by gunshot. Scott quickly dismissed the euthanasia charge, saying, “No place in the testimony here has anyone alleged or argued that the killing of these cats was a mercy killing. In fact [it is] quite to the contrary.”
According to Scott, for Grasso to be convicted of the cruelty charge, he would have to have acted “unjustifiably” in the shooting of the cats. (Excuse me, judge, but how can you justify gunning down kittens? What threat could they possibly have posed?)
Conflicting testimony in the nonjury trial held earlier this month presented widely varying accounts of the incident. Scott said while testimony from the six prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses may have been truthful, there was no evidence that Grasso broke the law. “As happens in all cases, people see things differently,” said Scott.
Barbara S. Carr, executive director of the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she was “extremely disappointed” by Scott’s decision. “This mother cat and kittens were domestic cats that were just shot by Officer Grasso,” Carr said. “It appears as if you are a government official, you can do things that other people can’t do.”
Grasso’s attorney, Arcangelo J. Petricca, called Scott’s ruling “the only fair verdict based on the facts of the case.” Petricca called his client “an animal lover himself” who is also a cat owner and who “doesn’t destroy animals unfairly or unjustly.”
Am I the only one who thinks this guy should not be an animal control officer … or be allowed to carry firearms? If you were the judge, how would you have ruled?
[PHOTO CREDIT: BuffaloNews.com]
This article really has mom scared cause we live in an apartment and the maintenance people may come in without mom being here if necessary. Well I am scared to death when strangers come into the apartment unless I know them! I usually hide, but I did hiss at Aunt Linda’s poodle when she charged in! Just because I am scared, does that give them the right to shoot me or any scared animal? What is this country coming to? “Off with his head” is our decision!! Who do we write to??
The cat and kittens would have hissed because they were frightened. If the officer can’t control animals without resorting to murder, he has no right to be an animal control officer.
oh my gosh , this is soooo unfair!!!!!!!!!! any stray/feral cat will come at you hisisng when its cornered and frightened. That has happened to mommy several times , and although she’s even gootten scratched , nothing more serius has ever happened!!!! mean , come on!!! the mother was trying to protect her babies. they were 3 probably underfed and weak strays ythat couldnt have harmed himn at all. it’sn not like we’re talking about rabid pitbulls coming at you growling and barking. poor kitties…
Unbelievable, and this man is animal control? And these judges are out of their freakin’ minds. What is wrong with people?
For starters, if the SPCA would have responded in the first place, none of this would have happened. To bad they don’t show this on Animal Planet — when they refuse to respond to animals that need help.
Second, since the officer can’t handle kittens and a mother who is only protecting her babies, he should NOT be working in animal control.
And the judge who said there was “no crime committed” — well judges are elected officials. Judges have been voted out and off the bench in our state when they rule that shooting an animal is humane.
In Oakland CA last month a BART cop shot a young man fur no reason – he’s in jail on catzillions of bail dollars and faces life in prison. There’s no difference in what the animal control (oh pardon me, the “Lack Of Animal Control” dude did then what the BART cop did – cold blooded murder. I say get that judge off that bench! He puts me in a hiss fit!
Now had the cats been oh say cougars or something I *might* understand. But a cat who sounds like was only protecting her kittens?
The “animal control” guy should be sitting in a jail cell without a job to return to & should not be allowed to work around animals again.
The judge should not be allowed to rule on animal cases in the future since he has no sense.
And the SPCA should be ashamed of itself for not stepping in to help. This whole thing might not have happened had they or the Humane Society responded. It seems like there are more & more stories of animals being put in dangerous if not deadly situations because the organizations designed to help them won’t do so.
This coward is a trained animal control officer. Therefore he held the knowledge that those animals were simply scared and trying to defend themselves. Did he let reason prevail? No. Instead, this trained officer decided to play Mr Macho and gun down three small, terrified creatures. My cat, Dusty, is one of the most loving cats on Earth; yet he has an attitude and temper. Has Dusty hissed, growled and lunged at me, my son, our veterinarian and his staff? Absolutely, many times. Has anyone been harmed? No, never. Trick is, leave the cat(s) alone and allow them time to calm down. If time is of the essence, how about grabbing the cat with a big beach towel? That’s what I use when Dusty feels cornered and in survival mode at the vet’s office. No big deal. Cat and humans are left unharmed. And the cat gets over it quickly.
If the officer didn’t have time for those cats to calm down, then he held the knowledge and training to leave behind traps with food and water, and come back later.
That coward with a gun should be fined, jailed, and be terminated from his job, and be barred from holding a job working with animals — or children — ever.
I don’t believe animal control can carry real weapons in our state. I know they have knock out darts for certain situations but not for shooting animals. What is up with this? We’ve seen hissing and spitting and angry cats and they are scary–however if you are in animal control you get to deal with them–you job. Hello?
Someone has connections.
Discharging a firearm in a public place to kill….kitties?
What the HECK was this guy smoking?
I think that ”officer” has his brains where his dick is…HE should be gunned down being such a coward. Have gun/will be man…
I’d like to have my dog bite him in the butt!
Smoking. NO! He wasn’t smoking he just is an idiot! Some people love to shoot just too shoot. I live in WV. Not to give it a bad name but that seems to be an easy answer to a lot of animal behavior here.
We have a long way to go to protect animals and with the economy the way it is we are just going to slide back a few years. Keep preserving guys! More words and more action is needed! Let’s keep it going for them!
I wish I had fingers, a gun and that mans address!
Thankfully there’s always room in hell for people like that! There is no excuse for that kind of treatment of defenseless animals and the system that let him go free is as guilty as he is. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
I am just feeling so sad about that poor mom cat and her babies just trying to live and survive in the basement. I bet she caught a lot of mice for the place and got death as her reward. It breaks my heart.
That is just sick. He felt a need to shoot 3 cats, momma and babies, coming at him hissing and spitting?? WTH. How is that not cruelty to animals? That judge needs to be voted out of office on his reelection!
Shame on the SPCA for not responding. And shame on the animal control officer for not knowing how a mother cat with kittens behaves when they feel threatened. Just another case of someone who uses the defense of stupidity as an excuse to do things they shouldn’t and gets away with it thanks to a stupid judge. Hope he gets voted out of office!
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mohandas Gandhi
This man is a total coward. That mama was only protecting her babies and was obviously very scared. How do they figure that this was justified? And, what are these people doing carrying firearms. At best they should have tranquilizer guns or something for goodness sakes. I wonder how many other animals this guy has “justifiably” murdered. He should be fired from his job and have served jail time. I hope he really is proud of his accomplishments…defending himself against a frightened mama cat and two kittens. I just don’t get these laws or should I say lack of laws that protect us.
We think that this man should be fired! Shooting a momma and 2 babies is not justifiable! Sammy hisses at new people all the time and she’s still alive, but that’s cause the human rescues her in time. I, Tigger, just run from them! But we firmly believe that this man and the judge should not get away with thinking that this is alright! What law are they looking at?
This “Cop” is not fit to wear a badge or carry a gun…the cats approached him hissing at him,of course they are going to be scared. He did not have to go to his patrol car,retrieve a high powered rifle and MURDER these cats. He could have left them in that basement until Animal Control arrived,they were not a threat to him. While I am a law abiding citizen,I have no use for “BADGE INFLATED” cops with a “God” complex. I’m not usually a person to wish harm on anyone,but in this case I will make an exception.. Dear Officer Pig…may one of these criminal street gangs,get a hold of your useless ass and give you a dose of reality you need, And honestly,I hope it’s MS-13. I used to be a correctional officer and I KNOW how much they love their machetes. I wouldn’t shed no tears if you ran into a group of them while you are severely outnumbered. I hope you feel like a BIG MAN you little punk POS. I beleive what comes around goes around,and I hope you get FAR less mercy then you gave those defenseless animals…..stupid pig.
We couldn’t help ourselves…..we had to vote for the death penalty.
I am astonished that the law in NY apparently sees nothing wrong in discharging a firearm in a residential basement simply to rid the complex of three cats that could probably have been trapped with minimal effort. Absolutely and completely astonished. I know if we had a basement we would like to think that it would not be invaded at any given moment by some strange guy toting a rifle.
first of all grasso is a piece of useless crap……anyone who felt it justifyable to shoot a mama cat and kittens for spitting an hissing needs to be locked up and they should throw away the dam key……..i wonder if his kids sas him back does he deem it justifable to shoot them too…..look at him he looks lijke an animal hater….the reason that cat was hissing is because animals CAN SENCE EVIL…..And he looks as evil as they come!!!and boy i tell you what i would clear my desk off all my others priorities and follow that sleeze all over town with a video cam and just wait for him to screw up…….and then i would love to see the trash get out of that one!!!!
If i were the people of that city i would get the worlds largest petition going to get that usless judge kicked off the bench!!! It isnt no wonder that animal abuse is so out of hand……The judges keep putting the wrong message out there…….Hopefully obama will change the animal laws for the better and start makin some of these judges do the PROPER THING!!!!!!!! We all know that piece of crap control officer should get plenty of jail time (cause who knows how much underhanded crap hes done that has not surfaced yet)with a large fine and NEVER EVER EVER EVER be allowed to work in ANY ANIMAL FIELD EVER AGAIN!!!!!! You know when hes reincarnated and comes back to this earth HOPEFULLY hell come back as a mouse……You gotta love the irony!!!!!!!!!
This is what men who hate women do, they shoot cats! I’ve found through experience that if you see a guy who hates cats and abuses cats, he’s probably the same guy who abuses his wife and daughters if he has the chance. This is a sick coward that we are dealing with here.
really people, it’s just a cat! thats whats wrong with the world to day, you left wing not job libs. got it all screwed up. HE SHOT A FREAKEN CAT! a animal that licks it’s behind, then go eats! what did he really do wrong here? You are the same type of people that stand outside an Army recruiters just to protest OIF, instead of a state house or DC….and I bet 95% of you voted for Obama….idiots….
oh and lynnzy…you are crazy as can be. just so ya know….” This is what men who hate women do…” Enjoy being old, with 500 of your purring, hairy “Babies.” while the rest of the sane world enjoys weekends with the grand kids, cookouts and a family.
Hissssssssss! This is all just wrong!!!!!
1. This moron needs to be fired, STAT.
2. If the judge doesn’t honor the law that provides punitive action for cruelty to animals and throw this scumbag in jail and fine him, perhaps there are other ways of dealing with him. Just sayin’.
This has our meowmy worried. My fur sis Bella doesn’t like men and hisses at them.
That Judge needs to retire. There is no excuse for SHOOTING a momma cat and 2 of her kittens. That’s just wrong. As for the “Cop” well a type of poultry comes to mind for him. Wonder how he would like it if he was unarmed and someone pointed a gun at him for protecting his family.
Sheesh it’s amazing who they say can carry firearms.
Ok turning keyboard over to my human sis now…..
I am 12 and use to believe that Animal Control was there to protect the animals. Now this one jerk has paved the way for more unnecessary killings of animals doing what comes natural.
If is seen this man on the street, I’d blow a hole in him without a 2nd thought, This man is a discrace to america.
Frederick S. Grasso, I here-bye salute you, for you are in the
* HAAAUUUULLLL- O – shame!*