A Florida family is mourning the loss of Buddy after Hernando County Animal Services mistakenly euthanized him.

Buddy’s owner, Maria Velez had taken Buddy to a friend’s house for her to cat sit while they were on vacation. When the friend, Debra Yarzab, was playing with Buddy, he bit her on the hand.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” said Yarzab.

Later, her hand swelled up, and she sought medical attention for the injury.

Because Buddy hadn’t received his rabies shot, he was put in quarantine at Hernando County Animal Services, which is routine in such cases.

It turned out that he was fine, but there was a mix up with another orange tabby cat, and Buddy was euthanized.

When the Velezes went to pick Buddy up, they were presented with a different cat–a very skinny orange tabby who was missing a tail. Maria Velez told them it was the wrong cat, at which point they discovered that the wrong cat had been euthanized.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Maria Velez said. “I was in shock. I’m like are you kidding me?”

Animal Services officials say they feel bad about the mixup, but admitted that similar incidents have occurred before. They said they are working on implementing new procedures to prevent future mix ups.

“I just want something to be done so it doesn’t ever happen again to someone else, to another animal,” Maria Velez said.

“I can never get him back,” said her son, Austin.

County Commissioner Rose Rocco said she is investigating the incident and is going to make sure new guidelines are put in place.

The CDC published the results of a study this week, in which it found that more than 86,000 people are injured each year in falls after tripping over their cats and dogs:

ATLANTA, March 27 (UPI) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 86,000 people are injured each year in falls caused by their cats and dogs.

That’s an average annual injury rate of 29.7 per 100,000 people, the agency said in a release. Nearly 88 percent of the injuries were associated with dogs and women were twice as likely to be injured than men.

The findings are based on data from hospital emergency departments.

Nearly 62 percent of dog-related injuries occurred inside or immediately outside the home. Thirty-one percent of those cases involved falling or tripping over a dog. Most falls involving cats occurred at home, with 66 percent due to the person falling or tripping over the cat.

The CDC (NASDAQ:HINA) said there needs to be increased public awareness of pets and pet items as fall hazards and of situations that can lead to fall injuries. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommendations emphasizing obedience training for dogs should also be reinforced, the agency said.

We have a cat named Tripper, and guess how he got his name? When first tamed (more or less), he loved being around people so much he would walk in direct contact with our legs and ankles, get tangled up in our feet and frequently trip us. Fortunately, we were able to train him (by saying NO forcefully and using a spray bottle) not to walk beneath our feet. It can be done.

And pets pose a particular hazard to older folks whose vision is compromised. My mother-in-law is legally blind, and often cannot see her black cat asleep on the white carpet — largely because of the poor lighting in her house. If you (or your parents) have compromised vision and pets, consider updating your lighting and adding a bell or two to Fluffy’s collar. Falls are serious problems for seniors, and can mean the end of living independently… which often means giving up their beloved pets. If you take the steps to decrease the odds of a pet-caused fall today, both you and your pet will have a happier future together.

Sullenberger is a cat lover who has fostered scores of kittens over the years for Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF).

“Sully’s the cat person. I’m the dog person,” his wife Lorrie told PEOPLE Magazine in a recent interview.

Lorrie and Sully care for the kittens until they can be neutered or spayed for adoption. Like many who foster, they ended up adopting one of their charges, the 2-year-old calico, Kitty (right).

“(Sully) loves that cat,” says Lorrie. “He has a special affinity for that cat. He desperately wants her to be a lap-cat. Since the accident, she’s actually been leaning up against him.”

Here’s video coverage of the story:

In Sunday’s Buffalo News, Donn Esmonde tells us the rest of the story… a tale of a loving and affectionate mother cat who was a welcome guest at neighborhood barbecues, and an out-of-control animal control officer who, despite an excuse that he thought the cats were rabid, dumped the bodies in landfill instead of preserving them for rabies testing:

by Donn Esmonde

The white blanket still is there, on the shelf in the basement storage unit. Jackie Ceccarelli laid it there last spring, soon after the gray cat— clearly pregnant—came in through the broken cellar window. It walked up to her, purring.

It was the start of a nice friendship, a friendship that continued as the cat bore six kittens on that same blanket. The friendship grew as Ceccarelli, 22, and others in the Lackawanna apartment complex fed and petted the new mother. The friendship expanded to include the pet’s attendance at backyard cookouts.

The friendship between the stray— abandoned when a family moved out— and residents in the brick, four-unit apartment buildings ended June 10. On that day, what sounds to me like an out-of-control animal control officer shot the mother cat dead in her basement home, along with two of the kittens.

Fred Grasso—responding to what residents think was a complaint about a different cat— claimed in court he acted after the “hissing” cat and kittens “came at me.” The very idea of an “attack cat” sounds bizarre to me. Nor can I fathom why a man with a .22-caliber rifle felt threatened by a 10- pound cat and 6-week-old kittens. Nor do I understand why an animal control officer who supposedly feared that the cats were rabid—as Grasso claimed— discarded the corpses in a landfill, instead of preserving the bodies for testing.

It gets worse. I recently went to the building where the cats were killed. Grasso—despite the possibility of a ricochet— fired the rifle in a cellar with concrete walls and floor, four furnaces, four water heaters and two apartments directly overhead.

West Seneca Judge Richard Scott last week—to the disbelief of Ceccarelli and other residents, to the outrage of SPCA officials—dismissed animal cruelty charges and said Grasso was justified in executing the cat and kittens. We got a decision, but not justice.

At very least, Grasso showed such massively poor judgment that he should be taken off the job. I would not want this guy carrying a loaded rifle in my neighborhood. Yet Lackawanna Mayor Norm Polanski put Grasso back on the street.

“Did he use poor judgment? I don’t know, I wasn’t in that basement,” Polanski said. “The judge said he did the right thing, and that’s where it ends in my eyes.”

Grasso’s attorney called the cat and kittens “feral cats . . . a wild cat family.”

That is not what I heard.

“We’d have cookouts, and the mother cat would sit with us and we’d pet her,” Ceccarelli, a service station manager, told me. “The kittens were the size of your hand . . . Nobody here was afraid of these cats.”

Patricia Murtha lives across the street. She met the “attack cat” when it rubbed against her while she was gardening.

“She’d let us pet her, and then she’d run back to the basement to be with her kittens,” said Murtha, 58, a nurse’s aide. “She was such an affectionate cat . . . None of us can believe the judge let [Grasso] go.”

Murtha saw Grasso go in the building that day with a rifle and a black garbage bag. The bag was full when he came out.

“He dropped the bag on the ground, like [the cats] were garbage,” Murtha said. “I cried when he told me he killed them . . . He said the other [four] kittens ran under the dryer, so he couldn’t get them.”

Grasso did not return a call for comment left on his answering machine.

The four surviving kittens, healthy and friendly, have since been adopted. But the mother cat and two kittens are dead. Fred Grasso, and his rifle, are back on the street.

Which ought to make for a lot of nervous animal lovers in Lackawanna.

desmonde@buffnews.com

This is reportedly not the first (and not likely the last) time that Grasso has gunned down an animal. According to the Buffalo News, Lackawanna resident Melanie Wojcinski claims that Grasso shot her 2-year-old Labrador, Shadow, in July 2003 and dumped the dog’s body in a creek near her home. Although the police report on Shadow’s death stated that Grasso had disposed properly of the body, children playing near Smokes Creek found the dog’s body in the creek.

Here’s the contact information for the judge in the case:

Judge Richard B. Scott
West Seneca Town Court
1250 Union Road
West Seneca, NY 14224

Phone: 716.558.3247
Fax: 716.674.0518

Yesterday morning I was bombarded with emails insisting that I take a look at what is arguably the World’s Ugliest Cat.

As you can see from the photo above, the cat is strikingly unique. His full name is “Ugly Bat Boy,” and he sports Sphinx-like baldness except for a lush mane on the front of his body. He spends most of his time atop a warm computer at Exeter Veterinary Hospital, where he is vet Stephen Bassett’s prized pet. Dr Bassett’s clients take cell phone photos of him and lavish him with affection, and Bat Boy willingly complies. “He’s just great,” says veterinary employee Christie Hartnett. “He’s Dr. Bassett’s little wonder cat.”

Everyone who knows him praises Bat Boy’s disposition and real inner beauty. The office staff was getting bombarded with so many questions about Bat Boy that they now display a few fliers saying he’s about 8 years old and perfectly normal in every way — just ugly.

Socks lived with Betty Currie, former President Bill Clinton’s secretary, after leaving the White House. The Clintons visited Socks, and Currie, when in Washington. 11-year-old Chelsea adopted Socks in 1991 after she saw the stray kitten at her piano teacher’s home in Little Rock, Arkansas. The cat moved into the governor’s mansion with the family and later to the White House.

“Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere,” Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement released by the William J. Clinton Foundation. “We’re grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years.”

Socks had his own online fan club, appeared at animal charity events and was one of the subjects of Hillary Clinton’s book, “Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets.”

When asked for his reaction, Rocky the Gutter Cat said, “Socks was an inspiration to Tuxedo cats everywhere, especially those of us who were once strays. He faced old age with grace and dignity, and was a role model for those of us enjoying our sunset years. He will be missed.”

Socks was a role model for Tuxie Catster Sadie, who said, “It is a sad day. Socks did live a good, long life, but, like da rest of us, not long enuff.”

Now recovering from surgery, Adams described how Tiger alerted him to a mass in his lung: “He would climb into bed and take his paw and drag it down my left side — he was adamant there was something there,” he said.

“And it was right where the cancer was.”

Adams showed no symptoms of lung cancer before Tiger’s behavior prompted him to discuss it with his family doctor. The doctor referred him to a specialist. An X-ray revealed stage 1 lung cancer in his left lung, right where Tiger said it should be. Doctors subsequently removed a portion of the lung during surgery.

Adams credits Tiger for saving his life. “I think if he hadn’t done the pawing part it could have gone on for another five, six months undetected,” he said. “I feel like it could have been a lot worse if the cat hadn’t had tuned in to something there, to something he felt was wrong. I would say he’s my hero.”

Barbara Walmer, head of animal behavior at the Calgary Humane Society, verified that Tiger is not alone… cats and dogs have been reported acting in similar ways to detect health problems in their owners. “I think we see more predicting in dogs, but for sure many pet owners have reported pets can have a sixth sense when knowing when something is wrong.”

Ironically, Tiger has never been one to show affection. “He’s never had that much to do with me except to come over for a pet,” Adams said, with a laugh.

Claiming that the negative media coverage and a deluge of phone calls had nothing to do with their decision, the Windsong Care Center announced today that Snoopy the Cat may continue to live at the facility. (Thank you to all the Cat’s Meow readers who telephoned or wrote letters in support of Snoopy.)

Cuyahoga County’s Public Animal Welfare Society will be drawing up a legal agreement to ensure that Snoopy will not face eviction in the future. ”We are getting the agreement together. I don’t want this to happen again with this management or the next one,” said Amy Beichler, PAWS’ executive director.

Snoopy has happily resided at the facility since he was a kitten ten years ago. When cat lover Johanna Shapiro, who suffers from MS, moved into the facility six years ago, Snoopy took up residence in her room. Snoopy has been instrumental in helping Johanna battle the loneliness and depression that accompanies her disease.

When a new administration took over the facility in January, they gave Shapiro two weeks to relocate Snoopy. Click here for the full story.

Johanna Shapiro has battled Multiple Sclerosis since she was 29 years old. Seven years ago, she was forced to move into a long term nursing facility. At the time, Shapiro–a lifetime cat lover–was forced to give up her two Siamese cats because the care center into which she was moving had a no-pets policy. She was heartbroken over the separation from her two best furry friends.

A year later, she moved to the Windsong Care Center near Akron, Ohio in order to be closer to her family. Her family selected Windsong because of its two resident cats, believing that Joanna would benefit from purr therapy. Shortly after her arrival, she formed a bond with a 10-year-old gray and white tabby named Snoopy, who had been adopted by the center four years earlier.

Snoopy took up residence in Shapiro’s room. ”He adopted me,” Shapiro said of Snoopy.

But Snoopy now faces eviction. The Windsong facility now has new administrators, and they’ve given Snoopy the boot.

Amy Beichler, executive director of Cuyahoga County’s Public Animal Welfare Society, said she thought the issue was resolved when the agreement was reached around Thanksgiving to confine the cat to Shapiro’s room.

”I felt we [PAWS] needed to get involved because this cat is therapy for her,” said Beichler.

The agreement also required that Snoopy be up to date on his inoculations and Shapiro’s family provide all of the cat’s food and care.

But in January on-site director Michael Demadall told the family that Snoopy had to go:

”I was told it’s a liability issue,” Grob said.

The Summit County Area Agency on Aging, whose volunteers visit the care center twice each month, learned of the situation and have urged administrators to let Snoopy stay for Shapiro’s well being.

”The cat helps the resident feel less lonely and alleviates stress and depression for her,” said Francine Chucharis, ombudsman supervisor for the long-term care program.

In a Jan. 31, 2009, letter addressed to Scott Bauer, director of operations for Windsong, PAWS attorney Dennis J. Niermann said Shapiro’s mental well-being impacts her health.

”It appears that the compassion for your clients is severely lacking, if not entirely absent,” Niermann wrote.

Shapiro’s physician, Timothy J. Carrabine of the Oak Clinic for Multiple Sclerosis in Uniontown, also sent the facility a letter asking administrators to allow his patient ”to keep her cat as it helps with her mental well-being.”

Windsong officials have not responded to calls seeking comment.

Last week, Shapiro was told by Windsong that Snoopy would have to leave by the end of this week.

”It’s an unusual situation and I think they’ve dug their heels in,” said Grob.

Beichler said she doesn’t understand Windsong’s stern stance.

”We told them they could stop all this bleeding. All they have to do is let the cat stay,” said Beichler.

If you’d like to voice your outrage at this facility’s insensitivity, here’s who to contact:

Scott Bauer, Director of Operations
Michael Demadall, On-site Director

WINDSONG CARE CENTER
120 BROOKMONT RD
AKRON, OH 44333

(330) 666-7373

Be assured, my mission is to have a continued presence at the Notasulga Post Office. My current station is on the sunny outside corner where we first met, weather permitting. My status for an inside, sunny, counter-top nap remains unknown. Even though I am a Post Office Box holder.

Sammy also gave an update on the anonnymuss sourpuss lady hoo got Sammy kikt owt of the Post Office:

Update: The miserable complainer has now filled a new complaint stating I am causing her allergies to flare. My caregivers have recommended an antihistamine to the complaining/ailing human.

Heer are my sugjesschuns for the miserable complaining sourpuss ladey:

• Moove as far away from Sammy and Notasulga as yoo can. Like maybey Antartikka.
• Ware a hazmat soot.
• Git a life.

Maybe sum of yoo have other sugjeschuns. Yoo can leeve them in the comments sekshun. But pleeze, remember the kittens and keep it PG. Or at leest, PG13.

If yoo haven’t ritten to Sammy yet, heer’s his address:

Yoo can read the hole entire letter frum Sammy heer. Thanks, Calvin, fur purrviding these importunt updates!