Cortland SPCA Cruelty Investigator William Carr said, �He doesn't like tails. He does not want an animal in his house with a tail." So when Cortland County man, Eric Manning's cat had kittens, he took a scalpel, and cut their tails off, without using anesthesia.
The kittens were found alive, but not well.
"The wounds themselves were covered with--were not clean. They were covered with feces, debris," Carr said.
These kittens are only Manning's latest victims. He's already been sentenced to two years behind bars for animal cruelty to a rottweiler.
He faces additional charges for cruelty to a pit bull. All cases involve him cutting off their tails.
The dogs are safe now and the Cortland SPCA is trying to make sure the kittens will be too.
One kitten is now at the veterinarian's battling an infection in the wound where it's tail used to be.
But once the kittens recover from the trauma, a new set of problems begin.
�Cats use their tails for balance. They use their tails to communicate with each other. So they won't have that benefit later on," Carr said.
Their mother, possibly a minx cat, may not have been born with a tail. The kittens will have to stay with her for another week or two until they're about 8 weeks old.
Then the SPCA will put the kittens up for adoption, to a home that's safe, clean and caring.
In addition to the time he's already spending behind bars, Manning faces further charges and up to four more years, for cruelty to the kittens. Case UpdatesA Cortland County man is behind bars after animal cruelty investigators uncovered a litter of tortured cats at his Freetown home. 40 year old Erik Manning is accused of cutting off the tails of six week old kittens with a scalpel. Earlier this week, Manning was sentenced to two years in jail for cutting off the tail of a dog. Manning told investigators that he had "issues" with animals that had tails. Two of the kittens have been already been adopted.
To adopt one of the others you can go to:
Cortland County SPCA
879 McLean Road,
Cortland, NY
Or Call: (607) 753-9386 | Source: wstm.com - June 15, 2005
Update posted on Jun 15, 2005 - 10:03AM |
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