Saturday, November 8, 2008

PSA Paper Shredders and Pets

Today I have sad news to share. I wasn't sure how to break the news because its so sad but I decided to do it as a PSA in hopes that this will NEVER EVER happen to any of our friends.

Snap's barn has lots of feral/semi-feral kitties (along with the 3 well cared for kitties that live with in her barn). As ferals do, they reproduce and while the humans have been trying to trap/spay/neuter them the actual owners of the farm are not fans (hiss!). So there are lots of kittens to find homes for. One of the riders took home 3 very adorable kittens a few weeks ago. He was very excited to bring them home to his boys (he has 4 or 5 sons ranging from 10-19!). They are a wonderful caring family and they adore these kittens.

On Tuesday the Woman found out that one of the kittens tragically had to be helped across the bridge. The youngest son came home to find the kitten with his paws in the paper shredder. (I know, its shocking and horrible and just brings tears to your eyes.) The poor little kitten was bleeding heavily and crying and the poor little boy found him there. The Dad came home shortly after and rushed the kitten to the vet. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done since his paws were completely destroyed by the paper shredder and could not have survived.

We do not have a paper shredder at home, the Woman shreds everything at the office. The shredder they had was obviously not stored away from curious kittens and turned on without a switch. Please, everyone take this as an opportunity to re-evaluate how kitty friendly your homes are. This family is devastated completely and we would never want this to happen to anyone we know.

18 comments:

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

What a tragic story but thank you for sharing it as we so often have things in our houses that seem innocuous to us and can be deadly to our companions.

Anonymous said...

Oh my freaking god. I can't breathe!

Anonymous said...

I am very sorreh but I feel it has to be said please don't be angry with me coz this story just ripped my heart out...
I do not know of one person that leaves the paper shredder on including myself.
It is just one of those appliances that when you have finished using it you turn it off at the switch.You never leave permanent power to it.
I do not know these boys and I can not bear to read the story over again and I absolutely hate to think that, that is what happened,
But it has to be said also that I have seen boys do horrendous things in the sake of being tough to their peer or being funny, including worse things than this, though it is hard to imagine worse...
I am very sorry but I had to say it, because if it was not an accident, some body needs serious help...

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

That is heartbreaking. That poor poor kitty. We don't have a paper shredder, mum burns all her sensitive papers in the woodburner and sends the rest for recycling.

Daisy said...

What a terrible tragedy. Maybe by sharing the story you can avert another tragedy for another family.

Niko and Cloud said...

This is totally sad. Thank you for spreading the word.

Anonymous said...

How horrible! We have a shredder, but our Nana keeps in closed up in Grampy's utility room, where we are Not Allowed (the door is always shut, it has to be pluggged in and switched on to use it).

Gemini and Ichiro said...

Oh no! That's horrible to hear about. We feel so badly about that little cat. And for the family. We think that Cheysuli managed to damage her back foot in the garbage disposal once (fortunately not while it was on, but she scraped it on something)

Sunny's Mommy said...

OMG that's so sad :( We have one but it's NEVER plugged in unless it's in use, which is only a few times a year. The switch is too easy to push to on (or off).

Just Ducky said...

That poor little kittie. Mum keeps the shredder turned off unless she is using it. Most of the time that room is off limits to me anyway.

Quill and Greyson said...

Oh no how awful. Mommy is checking the shredder right now. Although it is up high and I would never want to jump up there.

meemsnyc said...

Oh my goodness, that is the saddest story we've ever heard. How tragic.

Chrissie said...

I'm just sick. Just sad and shocked and sick. And so, so sorry.

Phoebe said...

Absolutely horrific. That poor little thing.

Chesney Cats said...

That is just so, so sad. Mama had read something a couple years ago about that happening to a kitty, so she unplugged hers. She used to keep in plugged in & on auto, but that scared her so she doesn't do that anymore.

Jake and Bathsheba said...

Too horrible for words.

~J&B

Honey P. Sunshine said...

this is furry disturbin

Spooky said...

That is so tragic. My people have a paper shredder that is activated by a piece of paper (or any other object!). I am going to tell them to turn it off when not in use! I like my paws. I like my life.

Thank you for sharing this sad story.