07.19.04ii
on cruelty


my mother left for the weekend on friday afternoon. on saturday the petsitter (an utterly unimpeachable family friend) called to say that one of our three cats had gotten outside overnight and was hurt - my sister's, a grey guy named winston with the disposition of a lamb. one of his claws had been ripped out and was dangling by a membrane - he seemed otherwise fine. mom told julia (sitter) to care for him as best she could, and that was that.


mom took a closer look at winston when she got home and saw what julia hadn't: on his front paws and left hind leg, the other nails were gone. at the vet's office today, she was told they had never seen anything like it, that no accidental injuries would look that way. i told her to file a police report, and the doctor agreed.


in short: someone caught winston and ripped out both of his dew claws and four of his joints on each of three paws, leaving a single digit. they tore so hard that the flesh under the nail beds came out as well. mind you, winston never used them anyway - he was too shy to meow, much less scratch so much as an inanimate object.


i am neither vengeful nor violent. that said, and i mean this literally, wish me luck with someday running across the son of a bitch who tortured winston. i would ruin his hands as slowly as i possibly could.

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