Charlie the cat that was burned

I don't know if any of you read the story about Charlie in Portland, Oregon. He was badly burned about a month ago (apparently intentionally!). It was the link at the bottom of this week's Catsite home page about the recovering cat celebrating his birthday at the hospital. Well anyway, it mentioned the animal hospital he was in and how expensive his recovery was going to be. I called them last night about sending a donation and to my surprise, he has already passed away. I guess the article was about 2 weeks old. He passed away last week - 15 minutes before he was supposed to go home, he went into cardiac arrest! The poor cat lived weeks in pain only to die anyway. I was sooooo upset to hear this. I couldn't stop crying. PLEASE EVERYONE KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS!!!! There are too many sick people out there and our cats are too precious. There is a reward for this incident and hopefully someone will be caught. The problem is they'll probably get a slap on the wrist. I figured I'd let everyone know what happened in case anyone was following this story.

that is so sad. I don't know what else to say. There are so many ugly things that happen in this world

Who ever did this deserves to be set on fire !!!!!
They probably wont have that experience though until they go to you know where!!! Like I said in the thread I posted in behavior, I just don't understand where this comes from - it just disgusts me!

Charlie was made comfortable with pain meds and he passed in a relatively peaceful way, that is the only saving grace here. With all the donations that poured in, this allowed for the best drugs to be used for poor Charlie. Now he is over the Bridge, he is out of pain and he has the best of buds to hang with.

There was a news segment the other day about a woman who has a large dog sanctuary back east. 59 of her dogs were set on fire! WHO the h-e double-l toothpicks would do something so horrendous? Her whole kennel and barn burned down along with all the dogs perishing in the flames. People who do this stuff, there is no just punishment for them. NONE AT ALL!

Well I'm glad he wasn't in that much pain (hopefully). Thanks for the update. We don't get news reports about something like that all the way out here (I guess it's not important enough!), so I probably never would have found out what happened to him if I didn't call. I know a lot of people don't think animals are that important, but I think the punishment should fit the crime for cowards who abuse defenseless animals and children. The laws have to be changed.

When I read this type of story or see it on the news; I am Angry (first),
Sad (next), and Worried (all the time). I have two semi-ferals that I have cared for (shots, spaying, winter shelter and feeding daily) for over 8 yrs. and I am always so scared that one day they will fall prey to one of these "lunatics"!

I just hope Charlie didn't die alone. That is the worst feeling in the world aside from all the pain he was in. At least now he is at peace. Why???? Why does this happen???

Donna

The boy who set Charlie on fire was about 14. He was ordered to write letters apologizing for what he did. He also had to make a public statement on the News. To me I didn't see that much regret in the kid. It appeared he was told what to say. I just pray that he is getting the counseling he needs to help himself.

Charlie stayed in the hospital where all of the nurses made him as comfortable as they could. The played with him as much as possible and gave him a ton of love. A nurse was planning to adopt him but he never made it. The dr's did everything they could to help him survive.

I shudder to think what this boy will be like at 28 if he doesn't get help.

I hadn't heard about this. How sad. This is why I don't let my cats outside.

Some people are just plain sick. Who in their right mind could actually do something like that to any animal. What's worse is my hubby watched a program on that said people who start on animals usually end up becoming serial killers, etc. Argh!!!!!!

Charlie was very brave and will now have his reward at the Bridge, free from pain and worry.
I hope that the child that perpetrated this crime will learn a life lesson and change his ways. The world out our doors is a sick and depraved place.

Kezzer is right. There is plenty of documentation about kids who are cruel to animals later transferring that disregard for life to people. It's sickening.

This just breaks my heart. Poor Charlie!
And you guys are right, I watch alot of FBI shows about serial killers, and almost all of them started out by abusing small animals when they were young. These children need major therapy before they are turned loose on the world again. Next time it might be someones child that gets set on fire!

Oh, how sad...... Poor Charlie! I don't understand how any human being could do anything like that to a helpless animal! It makes me so . to read stuff about animal torture! Now Charlie is at Rainbow Bridge free of pain. And, even though he was in pain, I'm sure he appreciated the nurses and doctors who gave him so much love. And, that kid deserves therapy. They should make it a law where people who do this should never be allowed to own an animal. Even potential animal abusers should have a law where they can't adopt an animal. Then, just maybe stuff like this would never happpen! I've seen quite a few strays at work on our plant (Motorola) and it makes me said to see the cats wandering around. I always worry that some jerk at work is going to hurt them.

It's even more upsetting to find out that because it was a 14 year old boy they're not going to do anything about it. He should be taken from his parents and forced into counseling, but that probably wouldn't even help. Usually with kids like that, the parents don't even think it's a big deal either (there are exceptions, of course). If it wasn't an animal, I'm sure he'd be receiving some kind of punishment! Why was a nurse planning on adopting him? I though he had a family that had offered a reward, etc.

The boy was sentenced to community service. Not quite sure how many hours and I'm sure it won't help his mangled mind

The nurse bonded with the kittie and the family was not sure they would be able to take care of all of his needs if he survived. That's the way it ran on the news anyway. They didn't really mention much about the family mostly about the nurses, Charlie, and this sick boy. They really played a huge part on how sorry the boy was and he didn't really know what he was doing. Sounds like he needs to be educated. Never once did we hear about the boys family either.

Thanks for the update. I guess at least they caught the person who did it so at least they can TRY to prevent it from happening again. I think most of the time they never find out who injured the animal. The problem with letting pets roam outside is that they are too trusting of strangers. At least the feral cats won't let anyone get near them - with good reason!!

My heart sank when I started reading about poor Charlie how could anyone be so cruel.That boy will feel guilty for the rest of his life,but thats if he dose ever feel guilty for what he has done.I really do think this boy should be deprived of his freedom,he has deprived Charlie of living a full life,its just so heartbreaking and I feel so sorry for the nurse who was going to give Charlie a home.
God bless Charlie.


Jackie and felix