Woman Accused of Tossing Cat down Trash Chute

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A woman in White Plains Texas is facing jail time after she was arrested for throwing her cat down a trash chute. The cat survived the 20 stories fall and sustained no serious injuries. The SPCA of Westchester said that the maintenance workers heard some noises coming from a plastic bag in the trash compactor. After they took a peek inside the black plastic bag they found a black and white cat, who was since identified as Cotton, in a pet carrier bag. After conducting investigations on the matter, SPCA officers found out that 40-year-old Romy Shapiro Goldsmith was responsible for having thrown the cat down the garbage chute from the 19th floor. According to officials, it is accurate to assume that the cat had been in the trash compactor for approximately 8 hours before it was discovered and transported to a local animal hospital. According to Westchester News, White Plains police officers took Goldsmith Shapiro into custody where she was charged with counts of animal cruelty and abandonment.

Similar cases of animal cruelty and abandonment

A cat was found in the trash compactor in an Atlantic City apartment building. The cat had apparently been thrown down the chute from the 10th floor. According to Lite Rock 969, the surveillance video from the apartment on a Sunday night reveals a man and a woman taking out their trash. Nothing unusual about that. However, the couple continued to throw away several bags of trash and in one of the bags, a cat’s hind legs is seen. The video later shows the woman taking another trip to the chute and throwing away a litter box. Similar to the first case, the cat survived the fall miraculously and recovered well. The couple seen in the video was taken into custody and convicted of animal cruelty.

In another case, a man in Australia threw out his partner’s cat after he supposedly claimed that she was giving too much attention and affection to the cat as opposed to him. Hibala, as the cat was called, also survived the fall but unfortunately, he sustained serious injuries. The Ragdoll spent a week in the animal hospital where he was treated for a fractured tail, missing fur, cuts that exposed his tail bone and severe inflammation. The 21-year-old man threw the cat and later on decided to ignore the fact that the cat was injured and refused to seek the necessary medical help that Hibala needed. The good news is that Hibala recovered and the animal abuser was accorded punishment which many felt was too little for him. He was restricted from getting close to his partner and her cat. He was also not allowed to adopt any animal and was slapped with a $3000 fine. Additionally, he had to serve 2 years of community service.

According to One Green Planet, animal abusers are more likely to abuse their partners and family members as well. Studies show that in about 88% of the households where there have been cases of child abuse, animal abuse also happened. The same study shows that 83% of women in domestic violence shelters reported that their pets were also abused. Between 50 and 70% of women also reported that their pets were harmed, threatened or even killed by their spouses. On March 6, 2011, a dog was found in a trash compactor in an apartment building in Newark New Jersey. The dog was named Patrick because he was found the day before the iconic St Patrick’s Day. Rescuers and vets didn’t think that Patrick would survive longer than a day but he was a fighter.

It was reported that the dog’s owner Kisha Curtis had previously left him tied to a railing for a week. It was still unclear whether she herself tried to dispose of the dog or it was someone else who did. Patrick was taken in by the Associated Humane Societies in New Jersey who cared for him. A giant hairball was removed from his stomach at the Garden State Veterinary Services to enable him to begin eating again. The vet staff put him on fluids and tried to raise his temperature since it had dropped so low that it was unable to register at first. When Patrick was brought in at the hospital he weighed a measly 19 pounds but after the care he was given he managed to recover to a stable 50 pounds. Associated Humane Societies gained custody of Patrick and he became an advocate of animal rights. Curtis appeared in court for charges of neglect and abandonment as the officials couldn’t prove that she indeed was the one who disposed of the dog.

What is animal cruelty and what is the punishment?

Wikipedia explains animal cruelty as suffering and/or harm commissioned and inflicted upon an animal by a human. Cruelty to animals can be divided into 2 groups: active cruelty and passive cruelty. Passive cruelty involves neglect where the cruelty is as a result of a lack of action. Often passive cruelty is accidental and the investigator might try to educate the owner on ways on how to care for his or her pet. Studies provide evidence that links the torture of pets with psychopathological disorders. It was found out that most of the records of rape cases, violence and murders were from people who had a history of animal cruelty especially those who work or worked in animal slaughterhouses.

A study conducted on psychiatric patients who had repeatedly tortured cats and dogs showed that all of them displayed excessive aggression towards people also. The FBI even stated that most if not all serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer started out by killing and/or torturing animals while they were young. Many countries around the world have put up statutes that discourage and forbid animal cruelty to various animals. The laws vary with each country but what is familiar in every country is that any animal abuser is either fined or jailed for a certain period of time. A case in point of severe punishment is in ancient Egypt where anyone who killed a cat was executed there and then.