Offers Pour in to Adopt Abandoned Cat Whose Head was Duct-Taped
Lucky is the name of a cat who was abandoned outside of a veterinary clinic in Burlington, ON on October 2. Said cat had been horrifically mistreated, seeing as how her head had been covered in duct tape with the single exception of her nose. Fortunately, a volunteer named Nicole Paling was visiting the veterinary clinic to check in on another rescued animal when she came upon Lucky, who had been dumped in a cat carrier on the curb.
Initially, Paling had thought that someone had mistaken the veterinary clinic for animal control. However, it wasn’t long before she discovered the condition of Lucky’s head, which shook her so much that she had to call her boyfriend Brett Norton for help. Fortunately, Norton was able to get the duct tape off of Lucky’s head with a pocket knife, though it was slow, tense work that had to be done millimeter by millimeter at certain points because he had to be very careful not to cut into Lucky’s flesh. Moreover, Paling was able to find video footage of the vehicle that dropped off the cat carrier, meaning that there is a chance that the Halton Regional Police will be able to track down whoever was responsible for the horrific mistreatment of Lucky.
With that said, it is important to note that while there are people out there who think nothing of mistreating animals, there are also plenty of people out there who are willing to show them kindness. Both Paling and Norton are excellent examples. However, it should also be noted that hundreds and hundreds of people have called into the veterinary center to offer Lucky a new home, meaning that she won’t be sent to an animal shelter after her evaluation is complete. Thanks to them, it seems probable that this story will have a happy ending after that, particularly if the Halton Regional Police succeeds with their investigation of the culprit.
Why Do People Abuse Animals?
Unfortunately, there is no single solution for the problem of animal abuse, not least because there isn’t a single cause for the problem of animal abuse. For example, there is a high correlation between people who abuse their spouse and their children with people who abuse animals, which suggests that said individuals might be doing it as a way to keep their victims compliant. In contrast, there are plenty of practices in factory farming that can be described as being abusive in nature, with examples ranging from how livestock is often kept in cramped conditions that make it impossible for them to move about to how various chicken breeds suffer horrific health problems because they’ve been so over-optimized for their intended tasks. However, said abuse seems to be based on a combination of distance and desensitization driven by the desire for more profit, as shown by how most of the consumers who buy their products agree with the idea that farm animals shouldn’t be mistreated in principle if perhaps not in practice. On top of this, it should be mentioned that animal hoarders tend to believe that they are showing compassion even when their animals are dying around them, which speaks of serious mental issues that make it impossible for them to recognize the reality of things.
Of course, just because animal abuse is a complicated issue, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be combated. For starters, education is one tool that can produce remarkable effects. In part, this is because there are cases of animal abuse that are caused by ignorance, as shown by the people who under-feed their work cats based on the mistaken belief that a well-fed cat won’t go after mice and other vermin. As a result, it is possible to convince said individuals to change their ways by helping them to recognize what they are doing as well as why it is bad. However, it should also be noted that education can help interested individuals pick up on more subtle signs of animal abuse than having their head almost entirely wrapped in duct tape, which in turn, can help them seek out the proper authorities when they see something is wrong. Finally, education on the matter of animal abuse makes more people aware of said issues, which in turn, increases the likelihood that society as a whole will take action. In other words, raising awareness might not have much of an immediate impact, but it sees so much use by such a wide range of groups for very good reasons.
Summed up, animal abuse is a serious problem. The story of Lucky seems like it will have a happy ending, but there are plenty of other stories that don’t end nearly so well. As a result, the fight against animal abuse remains an important one.