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Sonoma Calif. Kitten Bounces Back After Surviving Horrific Cruelty

July 27, 2007

©Tina Wright, Forgotten Felines

Burns covered two-thirds of Adam's body, but the kitten has shown a strong will to live.

By Ariana Huemer

Adam was only two months old, one of six feral kittens born on a Sonoma, Calif. farm when his life took a turn for the worse. A local resident had trapped Adam and his littermates to have them spayed and neutered, but her plans were thwarted when someone abducted the kittens.

Adam was found shortly afterward badly burned and near death. He was rushed to a veterinary hospital, where efforts began to save his life. Meanwhile, outraged residents of the small community started up a reward fund to help find Adam's abusers. The fund, with the addition of $2,500 from The HSUS, climbed to $8,000. It wasn't long before a brave 11-year-old boy named Caesar stepped forward and helped identify the alleged perpetrators.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Caesar had been walking near his apartment complex with a friend when the duo said they saw two 15-year-old girls standing by a river laughing as a kitten shrieked in pain. When they saw smoke, they realized that the kitten had been set on fire. Rather than turning away, Caesar and his friend, demonstrating strength of character beyond their years, retrieved the badly-burned kitten and handed him over to the apartment manager.

Healing and Justice

With Caesar's help, law enforcement was later able to identify the two teenage girls, who were charged with felony animal cruelty in juvinille court. In announcing the arrests of Adam's alleged abusers, District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua assured the community, "We will fully prosecute this case of animal cruelty to ensure that those responsible are held accountable ... Animal cruelty will not be tolerated."

Only one of Adam's littermates was found, and the fate of the others remains unknown, but Adam's story appears headed for a happier ending. Although he entered the veterinary hospital with second- and third-degree burns covering 75 percent of his body, Adam is steadily improving, thanks to round-the-clock care and multiple surgeries, funded in part by a $1,000 donation from The HSUS.

While Adam's recovery is of paramount concern, it's also important to ensure that animal cruelty not be tolerated or repeated. The HSUS's Dr. Mary Lou Randour contacted the Sonoma County District Attorney to urge stern sentencing and to offer her expertise in the psychological treatment of animal abusers. As the author of "AniCare Child: An Assessment and Treatment Approach for Childhood Animal Cruelty," as well as a co-author of "A Common Bond: Maltreated Children and Animals in the Home," a forthcoming handbook for court personnel, Dr. Randour is a leading authority in the cycle of violence that so often begins with cruelty to animals.

Ariana Huemer is cruelty case manager for the Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign.

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