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Case #13398 Rating: 3.6 out of 5
Tight collar, elastic band around cat's neck
Lawrence, MA (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007
County: Essex
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Brian Finn
A Haverhill man who abused his cat by wrapping a tight collar and an elastic band around its neck will spend the next 18 months on probation and was ordered not to have anymore pets.
Brian Finn, 43, formerly of Lawrence, was charged with animal cruelty after two neighbors complained to authorities last February. They reported the collar around the neck of Finn's cat Oliver was so tight "the cat seemed paralyzed," according to court papers. The cat appeared constantly in pain, neighbors said.
One neighbor said she offered to help Finn with the cat's care "but he got violent when she was persistent about the matter," according to a report.
When Animal Control Officer Ellen Bistany went to Finn's apartment to investigate, she found the small, orange cat sitting on a table with white gauze and black electrical tape around his neck. Finn said he was treating the cat with an antibiotic ointment, after he took the cat's collar off and its fur came with it.
Bistany asked him to remove the bandage from the cat's neck. He first pulled an elastic band from around the cat's neck, which he said he was using to keep the gauze and electrical tape in place. Bistany said she could smell a bad odor, which she said she believed was caused by an infection. And the cat's neck was raw, open flesh which appeared nearly sliced open to the bone.
Later, as she was photographing the cat's injury, Bistany said she noticed "a bright yellow object embedded in the wound all the way around his neck. It appeared to be an elastic."
She asked Finn why he didn't get any help for the cat. He said he didn't know who to call, according to Bistany's report.
Bistany took the cat into custody. He was taken to the Merrimack County Animal Hospital in Billerica, where he underwent surgery to remove the embedded elastic band from his neck. He was also prescribed pain medication.
Finn pleaded guilty in Lawrence District Court Tuesday [March 11, 2008], resulting in 18 months of probation and an order from Judge Kevin Gaffney to stay away from owning pets.
Mike Keiley, manager of an animal shelter in Methuen, said while he's not familiar with this case, he does feel that animal cruelty laws and subsequent sentences "are not utilized well. They should be stronger and looked at in the same ways child abuse laws are."
Animal abusers often have other aggression issues that need to be dealt with, said Keiley, who works at the MSPCA at Nevins Farm on Route 28.
"Animal abuse should be taken very seriously," he said. All abuse sentences should be coupled by steps to determine if the person "is going to continue to be a threat," Keiley said. References« MA State Animal Cruelty Map
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