How can we stop this guy?
August 26, 2010 5:10 AM Subscribe
What can be done about a serial kitten-torturer?! Proven case with plenty of evidence. Is there any way to get this sick a-hole behind bars?
I'll try and keep this brief. A friend of mine was looking for someone to adopt a kitten. A man called and took the kitten, "for his niece". Thereafter, the man disappeared and wasn't reachable by phone. 14 hours later, he called and said the kitten was violent and asked to return it. The kitten was returned with signs of severe trauma, not responding to stimuli, bleeding from the nose and eye and filthy. A week after the fact, the kitten is still severely traumatized and appears to have sustained irreversible brain damage.
It gets worse.
My friend made some calls and found out the guy's name was an alias, and that he's well known to animal shelters in the Tel Aviv area. He's adopted tens of kittens who were never heard from again. His real identity was confirmed using his phone number and likeness. Also, this guy was the subject of a cover story in Tel Aviv's Ha-Ir weekly, titled "12 tiny kittens - Where did they go?" in December 2009 (terrible Google translation here). Unfortunately, there's very little hard evidence in the story; One gets the impression that they had a lot more material that was shot down by legal and couldn't be printed. The story mostly boils down to lots of circumstantial evidence, two days of private eye surveillance with no results, and a disgusting interview with the man himself which consists of sob stories about his hard life and unconvincing lies about where all the kitties went (Basically, according to him, he's just the world's biggest klutz, kittens keep dying on him on their own, but he kept adopting more just "to prove to himself" that he's capable of raising a cat. He also claims that he'll never do it again, but he's obviously still at it, using ever more devious ways like aliases, and stories about nieces. My friends' case happened barely 10 days ago.)
My understandably shocked friend opened a Facebook page to warn people about this guy, and it gathered over 1,900 members in a week, but so far it seems to have been mostly counterproductive; Many of the comments crossed the line into vigilante territory, which led to a backlash from some trolls who sided with the kitten torturer and forced the page to shut down, and now she's opened a more moderate, moderated version - "Caution - Danger to Cats" instead of "Caution - Kitten Murderer".
While the page was still up, the man called my friend, admitting his real name this time, and gave her a similar sob story and asking for a meeting so he can apologize in person. She thankfully refused. Needless to say, she's filled with guilt over the whole episode.
OK, that's it in a nutshell. I realize most people here aren't familiar with Israel and its laws, but mistreating animals is a criminal offense, punishable by three years. According to the Ha-Ir story, a case was opened against this guy but later closed for lack of evidence.
Maybe somebody here has experience with this kind of sick, twisted individual. The fact that he started giving the injured kittens back, instead of just making them disappear, and also started calling his (human) victims, tells me that on some level, he wants to get caught. Is there any way we can help him with that?
I'll try and keep this brief. A friend of mine was looking for someone to adopt a kitten. A man called and took the kitten, "for his niece". Thereafter, the man disappeared and wasn't reachable by phone. 14 hours later, he called and said the kitten was violent and asked to return it. The kitten was returned with signs of severe trauma, not responding to stimuli, bleeding from the nose and eye and filthy. A week after the fact, the kitten is still severely traumatized and appears to have sustained irreversible brain damage.
It gets worse.
My friend made some calls and found out the guy's name was an alias, and that he's well known to animal shelters in the Tel Aviv area. He's adopted tens of kittens who were never heard from again. His real identity was confirmed using his phone number and likeness. Also, this guy was the subject of a cover story in Tel Aviv's Ha-Ir weekly, titled "12 tiny kittens - Where did they go?" in December 2009 (terrible Google translation here). Unfortunately, there's very little hard evidence in the story; One gets the impression that they had a lot more material that was shot down by legal and couldn't be printed. The story mostly boils down to lots of circumstantial evidence, two days of private eye surveillance with no results, and a disgusting interview with the man himself which consists of sob stories about his hard life and unconvincing lies about where all the kitties went (Basically, according to him, he's just the world's biggest klutz, kittens keep dying on him on their own, but he kept adopting more just "to prove to himself" that he's capable of raising a cat. He also claims that he'll never do it again, but he's obviously still at it, using ever more devious ways like aliases, and stories about nieces. My friends' case happened barely 10 days ago.)
My understandably shocked friend opened a Facebook page to warn people about this guy, and it gathered over 1,900 members in a week, but so far it seems to have been mostly counterproductive; Many of the comments crossed the line into vigilante territory, which led to a backlash from some trolls who sided with the kitten torturer and forced the page to shut down, and now she's opened a more moderate, moderated version - "Caution - Danger to Cats" instead of "Caution - Kitten Murderer".
While the page was still up, the man called my friend, admitting his real name this time, and gave her a similar sob story and asking for a meeting so he can apologize in person. She thankfully refused. Needless to say, she's filled with guilt over the whole episode.
OK, that's it in a nutshell. I realize most people here aren't familiar with Israel and its laws, but mistreating animals is a criminal offense, punishable by three years. According to the Ha-Ir story, a case was opened against this guy but later closed for lack of evidence.
Maybe somebody here has experience with this kind of sick, twisted individual. The fact that he started giving the injured kittens back, instead of just making them disappear, and also started calling his (human) victims, tells me that on some level, he wants to get caught. Is there any way we can help him with that?
Call cops. Call the Israeli equivalent of the ASPCA.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:26 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:26 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have no idea what resources are available to your friend or this crazy dude in Tel Aviv, but stay far, far away from this man. Whatever you do, make sure you do it from a distance and protect the identity and location of yourself and your friend as much as possible.
When they capture serial killers, the friends/family almost always say something like, "well, we saw him torture and kill a kitten once, but had no idea he would ever kill people!" I'm not saying this guy is a serial killer (of humans), but this kind of sick behavior has a history of escalating.
I vote for DO NOT GET DIRECTLY INVOLVED, and do as much as possible to convince the police to go after him.
posted by phunniemee at 5:27 AM on August 26, 2010 [7 favorites]
When they capture serial killers, the friends/family almost always say something like, "well, we saw him torture and kill a kitten once, but had no idea he would ever kill people!" I'm not saying this guy is a serial killer (of humans), but this kind of sick behavior has a history of escalating.
I vote for DO NOT GET DIRECTLY INVOLVED, and do as much as possible to convince the police to go after him.
posted by phunniemee at 5:27 AM on August 26, 2010 [7 favorites]
I rather agree with Phunniemee. The guy sounds scary. But I do hope that Israel has some sort of organisation like the ASPCA/RSPCA that can go after him if you present them with the information.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:18 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:18 AM on August 26, 2010
Unfortunately, people like this exist the world over. What every animal adoption group should have is a do not adopt list, with people that they will not adopt to. This should include photos, known names/aliases and as many details as possible. This should also be shared with other groups.
This is not a vigilante thing: it is simply a guide to people that are unsuitable as adoptees. Home visits prior to adoptions help, but that's not always possible.
The animal group he adopted from should also immediately file a police report, and get a medical opinion from a vet about the cause of the injuries. That can also be forwarded to the relevant state animal welfare groups.
posted by baggers at 7:15 AM on August 26, 2010
This is not a vigilante thing: it is simply a guide to people that are unsuitable as adoptees. Home visits prior to adoptions help, but that's not always possible.
The animal group he adopted from should also immediately file a police report, and get a medical opinion from a vet about the cause of the injuries. That can also be forwarded to the relevant state animal welfare groups.
posted by baggers at 7:15 AM on August 26, 2010
How is the injured kitten? Has he or she been vetted? What is the prognosis?
posted by srrh at 7:58 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by srrh at 7:58 AM on August 26, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks so far, I just emailed Israel's ASPCA.
If anyone has more ideas, keep 'em coming.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:03 AM on August 26, 2010
If anyone has more ideas, keep 'em coming.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:03 AM on August 26, 2010
Response by poster: AskMeFi seems to have zapped the Facebook links. Are those blocked here?
If anyone wants them, message me.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:04 AM on August 26, 2010
If anyone wants them, message me.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:04 AM on August 26, 2010
Response by poster: srrh, from the Facebook group: Louie has regained partial vision, is once again playful and does his business in the litter box, but still has trouble lifting his head.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:11 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by Silky Slim at 8:11 AM on August 26, 2010
AskMeFi seems to have zapped the Facebook links. Are those blocked here?
Pretty much, yeah. You can't or shouldn't be using AskMe to promote your own stuff. It's for asking questions. You can put the links in your profile if you want people to look at them.
posted by jessamyn at 9:18 AM on August 26, 2010
Pretty much, yeah. You can't or shouldn't be using AskMe to promote your own stuff. It's for asking questions. You can put the links in your profile if you want people to look at them.
posted by jessamyn at 9:18 AM on August 26, 2010
Retain before / after videos and photos of the cat and any paper work / emails / communications that went between your friend and the guy about adopting the cat. Take this evidence to the police and SPCA. If they won't do a criminal case, would you (and does Israeli law) have the option of your friend filing a civil case?
posted by WeekendJen at 9:55 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by WeekendJen at 9:55 AM on August 26, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Silky Slim at 5:12 AM on August 26, 2010