A 15-year-old boy has admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a hamster after freezing it, tumble-drying it and then putting it in a washing machine.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at Harrogate Youth Court. Youth magistrates banned him from keeping animals for four years and passed a 12-month supervision order.
"What this boy did was horrendous," said RSPCA inspector Mike Pugh.
He explained that it took over half an hour for the hamster, named Poppy, to die.After first being put in a freezer then heated in a revolving drum, it finally drowned in the washing machine. Pugh said the animal "suffered severe pain and mental stress" and a post-mortem showed it had lesions on its feet and torn claws.
The vet concluded these were most likely caused by frostbite, trying to climb out of the freezer or hang on to the inside of the dryer drum. She died of severe respiratory or cardiovascular damage.
Poppy's owner called the RSPCA after finding the pet in the bin.
"The teenager was one of several who were guests at the owner's house," said Pugh. "The owner had been out for the evening and came home to find the evidence of what happened. There were droppings in the freezer and the tumble-dryer."
"Poppy was bought as a gift for the owner's daughter, who was obviously distraught. This was an act of senseless cruelty against a defenseless animal."
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
corduroy_blazer wrote:
He explained that it took over half an hour for the hamster, named Poppy, to die.After first being put in a freezer then heated in a revolving drum, it finally drowned in the washing machine. Pugh said the animal "suffered severe pain and mental stress" and a post-mortem showed it had lesions on its feet and torn claws.
The vet concluded these were most likely caused by frostbite, trying to climb out of the freezer or hang on to the inside of the dryer drum. She died of severe respiratory or cardiovascular damage.
can anyone else completely envision this? i've got a soft side, jerks. be gentle.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
A 15-year-old boy has admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a hamster after freezing it, tumble-drying it and then putting it in a washing machine.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
yea, well, the jerk store called. they're running out of YOU.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:13 pm Posts: 2948 Location: Caucusland
I had to drown a parakeet that got hit by a fan three hours after I bought it. It just flew right up into the fucker out of the cage, like it'd been designed to do that all along.
The result was pretty graphic. It was barely breathing. I knew it was in pain, it was dead - I won't give the details of how I know it was out and going out slowly - but I was panicking, probably moreso at that time than for a few years before or since, so I made the on-the-spot call to drown it very quickly (it died practically immediately then)
One of the worst things I ever had to do and I still always wonder if the bird would've made it even though I know deep inside he was dying a slow death; he'd ah ... lost too much.
I still feel sick and in denial at the thought of it almost a year and a half later. It's probably what sparked a run of over a dozen bird purchases, to get over the guilt of having to put down a pet you just dedicated responsibility to because you were too dumb to turn your fan off.
Our ceiling fans have not been on since. Not even once. We lost three more to a kitchen fire about six months later that was unfortunately out of our control, and that was hard too, but I don't fault myself on that like I did this one.
One year on and our little family of fifteen has their own room, spacious cages, decent food, and the good life. Still, I sometimes wonder what it would be like had I not been careless and that other one survived ... would I have three birds instead of fifteen? Would that have let the ones that died in the kitchen fire live elsewhere? Who knows.
But this ... this is brutal. If you really intend to hurt a pet, at least let it outside for a smudge of a chance. It'll be better than running them through the day's God damned laundry.
Sign of serial killers, almost always.
_________________
Bob Knight wrote:
When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down so my critics can kiss my ass.
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:25 am Posts: 3216 Location: Aussie Expat in Ireland Gender: Male
punkdavid wrote:
Well, she did shit in the freezer.
_________________ PJ: 1 in 1995, 2 in 1998, 20 in 2003, 13 in 2006, 3 in 2007, 8 in 2008, 5 in 2009, 4 in 2010, 5 in 2012. EV: 8 in 2011, 1 in 2012. Brad: 1 in 1998, 1 in 2002. Shawn Smith: 1 in 2008
I had to drown a parakeet that got hit by a fan three hours after I bought it. It just flew right up into the fucker out of the cage, like it'd been designed to do that all along.
The result was pretty graphic. It was barely breathing. I knew it was in pain, it was dead - I won't give the details of how I know it was out and going out slowly - but I was panicking, probably moreso at that time than for a few years before or since, so I made the on-the-spot call to drown it very quickly (it died practically immediately then)
One of the worst things I ever had to do and I still always wonder if the bird would've made it even though I know deep inside he was dying a slow death; he'd ah ... lost too much.
I still feel sick and in denial at the thought of it almost a year and a half later. It's probably what sparked a run of over a dozen bird purchases, to get over the guilt of having to put down a pet you just dedicated responsibility to because you were too dumb to turn your fan off.
Our ceiling fans have not been on since. Not even once. We lost three more to a kitchen fire about six months later that was unfortunately out of our control, and that was hard too, but I don't fault myself on that like I did this one.
One year on and our little family of fifteen has their own room, spacious cages, decent food, and the good life. Still, I sometimes wonder what it would be like had I not been careless and that other one survived ... would I have three birds instead of fifteen? Would that have let the ones that died in the kitchen fire live elsewhere? Who knows.
But this ... this is brutal. If you really intend to hurt a pet, at least let it outside for a smudge of a chance. It'll be better than running them through the day's God damned laundry.
Sign of serial killers, almost always.
Have you told this story before? Because either you have, or I am experiencing some wicked deja vu right now.
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