Kitten buried alive Nashville, TN (US) Incident Date: Friday, Jul 13, 2007 County: Davidson Disposition: Alleged Alleged: man

Case ID: 11732 Classification: Choking / Strangulation / Suffocation Animal: cat View more cases in TN (US) Login to Watch this Case

An alert resident rescued a kitten buried alive near her backyard Friday.

Metro Animal Control responded to the call among other animal cruelty complaints they received Friday.

Jann McDonald said she saw a man carrying a sack and a shovel toward a creek across from her backyard. She was in her backyard and saw him dig a hole, drop the sack inside, cover it and marked the spot.

After he left, she went to the spot.

"I could see the tip of the bag and I could hear meowing," she said. "My heart just stopped."

"I reached down and pulled out that bag and it was a kitty and it was alive," McDonald said, "and it made me angry."

Veterinarian Dr. Karen Fox said the four-week-old animal was covered with dirt. It had dirt in its eyes and mouth.

Fox and her colleagues nicknamed Kitty Krueger in honor of Friday the 13th. Krueger is the last name of the main character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street films.

"No, I don't consider myself a hero at all," said McDonald, as the kitten was examined. "Anyone with a conscience would have done the same thing."

Metro Animal Control officers Billy Biggs and Michael Stern went to the man's house.

His wife told them her husband thought the cat was dead.

"The owner said evidently the kitten got in between the recliner," Biggs said. "The husband woke up and the cat got squished."

The incident represents a small part of what animal control officers handle every day.

So far this year, Metro Animal Control has investigated nearly 1,000 animal cruelty complaints that range from animals not having any water to pets being burned or tortured.

Many of the calls they receive are during the summer.

Metro Animal Control is pursuing animal cruelty charges in this case. The feline was in critical condition Friday night.

If anyone has an animal complaint, they should call 862-7928.

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References

News Channel 5 - July 15, 2007

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