By Jenny Pace
The cat soon to be known as Westy arrived in our emergency
veterinary hospital near Denver on Memorial Day 2001. The date
was only too appropriate. Westy had practically been through a
war. Witnesses said he had been thrown from a car window while
apparently on fire.
Westy certainly looked like a victim of warfare. A large
tabby cat, he had third-degree burns over 40% of his body,
which smelled of smoke and charred fur. His peppery coat had
mostly melted onto his body, his hindquarters were burned to
the muscle, and his whiskers singed away from the heat. I was
one of the nurses on duty that night and, along with the
doctors, worked to stabilize him and assess his injuries. We
weren't sure we could save Westy.
Our hospital is comprised of surgical and medical
specialists who deal with extreme cases every day, so the
decision was made to make him comfortable and give his owners
time to claim him. Two days after his arrival, Westy was stable
enough so that we could administer anesthesia and clean his
wounds. Everything we used to touch Westy had to be sterilized
to prevent infection. We also placed a feeding tube in him
because he was not eating on his own. The doctors had to wait
several more days before performing surgery so they could
determine how much of his burned skin could be saved.
Meanwhile, the doctors notified the news agencies, which
were sympathetic to Westy's condition. The media attention
turned Westy into a local celebrity and a rallying cause for
animal cruelty. The hospital was flooded with phone calls, from
as far away as Germany and France. Hundreds said they would
gladly adopt the injured cat. The community even raised a
$5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any
suspects.
On June 8, 2001, the police in nearby Westminster, Colorado
announced they had arrested two boys on animal cruelty charges
in connection with the attack on Westy. They were teenagers,
ages 16 and 17, who allegedly set the cat on fire in a
middle-class neighborhood in Westminster (hence the name
Westy). The 16-year-old was turned into Westminster police by
his alarmed parents.
The suspects share a couple of traits with a large
percentage of animal abusers in America: their age and their
gender. According to The Humane Society of the United States's
recently released 2001 Report of Animal Cruelty Cases,
teenagers accounted for 20% of the intentional acts of animal
cruelty in the 1,677 cases studied from January through
December of last year. And of those troubled teens, a whopping
95% were male. It's with these statistics in mind that The HSUS
is focusing attention on teenagers during this year's annual
Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week from April 14 to
April 20.
The teenage focus is important. In recent years,
psychologists, criminologists and sociologists have begun to
recognize animal cruelty as a potential warning sign that a
teenager could commit violence toward humans in the future. The
HSUS's First Strike program attempts to break this cycle of
violence before it spins out of control. One of the ways the
program creates change is through working with legislators to
toughen animal cruelty laws.
Colorado's cruelty laws certainly could use a little
toughening. Because cruelty against animals is only a
misdemeanor in the state, the teenagers served just two days in
jail, paid a $500 fine and received an 18-month probation after
they pled guilty to the charges.
In the meantime, Westy was displaying a tremendous fighting
spirit and a will to live. He underwent five major surgeries,
including two skin grafts to save his right hind leg and to
close burn areas on his ribcage. Doctors had to amputate his
left hind leg and tail because they were too severely burned to
save. I was his primary care nurse and spent about four hours a
day with Westy, bathing him, changing his bandages, and giving
him physical therapy.
As his owner never claimed him, I was able to adopt Westy on
September 28, 2001. He had his own press conference to announce
his adoption. Present at the conference was Democratic state
Senator Deanna Hanna, who was ready to introduce a bill, called
"Westy's Law," which would make a second conviction for animal
cruelty a felony in Colorado. The bill was introduced in
January, and Westy went to the Capitol to lobby for it. It
passed the Senate, but a similar measure in the House was
killed in committee. The Senate version is now awaiting a
hearing in the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs
Committee.
When Westy is not promoting animal rights, he enjoys his
numerous toys, kitty beds, and handmade quilts donated by his
many admirers. He, in short, behaves like a normal kitty, a
minor miracle in itself.
Jenny Pace is a veterinary
technician at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in Wheat Ridge,
Colorado.
