Cat attacks dog -- it's a hate crime!!

Great Debates
#1

From this story.

The basic idea is that a man goes into a library with a guide dog. A cat in the library (the “unofficial library mascot” according to the owner of the dog) pounced on the dog and attacked it. This caused him panic attacks which continue to torment him (the owner, not the dog). He sued for $1.5 million.

When the city refused to pay up on the specious claim he added to the complaint that the attack was a “hate crime.”

He complained that becuase he is disabled, he expected a “proper response” from the city, which never arrived.

So [insert tongue in cheek here],

[ul]
[li]Is an attack by a cat on a dog a hate crime?[/li][li]Is this a baseless suit? Is the guy entitled to no more than vet bills (if that)?[/li][li]Are only the disabled entitled to a response on an accusation? What if it was my dog who was injured? [/li][/ul]

Zev Steinhardt

#2

Representing yourself is a pretty glaring disability.

#3

Yes, it is a hate crime.

Cats get away with this sort of thing all the time, and it’s got to stop. Only an all-dog jury can deliver justice.

#4

Point the first: I suppose it is a hate crime, if it can be proven that the cat attacked the dog solely because it was a dog. Obviously, the cat’s lawyers will claim some provocation. (Tongue out of cheek–I don’t think it can be a “hate crime”, if it’s not even a “crime”).

Point the second: No, but perhaps the dog is.

Point the third: Is the man claiming that the cat attacked his dog because it (the cat) noticed that he (the man) was blind? Bwahahaha.

#5

From the cat’s viewpoint, Dyne centimeter, your response is not funny. How many guide-cats have you seen? It would seem that the cat could easily claim discrimination–with the invading dog as the embodiment of insult.

Again from the cat’s viewpoint: Wasn’t the cat’s area of responsibility and authority, the City Library, invaded by an uninvited, unannounced dog? Did any of the City’s librarians tell the Library’s guard-cat that the dog was authorized for entry?

You give a cursory analysis, Dyne millimeter, which would seem to be somewhat beneath your stature–very small of you, in fact. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

+++++++++++++++++++++++

By the way: I am an official defender of dogs. :slight_smile:

#6

So many punchlines, so little time…

This guy is blind?

Were he not a member of said class, an improper response would have sufficed.
When I was 5, I poisoned my brother’s goldfish. I’m hoping I’m safe under statue of limitations…

#7

We had a cat that routinely attacked dogs of all sizes. She would hide in the bushes next to a fence. After the dog trotted by she would launch a viscious charge, the dog would go yelping off terrified, then would whirl around to see what that was and the cat would calmly jump up on the fence, snicker, and go lay down for another nap.

Very, very funny to watch.

#8

I don’t think he’s blind. Wonder what the disability is. :confused:

#9

well to answer one of zev’s questions - had it been your dog, I don’t think the incident would have happened, unless you have a guide dog.

is it a hate crime? technically, no, since AFAIK, there is no legislation identifying dogs and cats as either participants or recipients of criminal behavior.

Humans routinely attack other species w/o repercussions (except, of course, from PETA), ex: Cows, sheep, pigs etc.

Should the library have offered compensation for vet bills (if any) sure.

#10

Don’t forget the elves!

#11

Um, correct me if I’m wrong-it’s nice to take care of the cat and all, and I love kitties, but really-should a cat have free run of a library? What if patrons are allergic, or the cat gets in to something?

Shouldn’t they keep Kitty in a special space?

#12

We really shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions here, there could be more to this case than at first appears. I mean, how do we know that the dog didn’t have a bunch of overdue fees? What if he never put the microfilm cannisters back in alphabetical order? Wouldn’t you be angry if one of the library patrons was always leaving the public internet terminals on Lassietits.com?

There is just too much we don’t know.

#13

:smiley:

#14

Yet another case screaming out for sweeping tort reform and “loser pays” legislation. This “person” is wasting our society’s legal and governmental resources and should be fined and/or jailed for bringing a frivilous lawsuit before the court.

IMO.

#15

This guy is still having panic attacks because a cat scratched his dog a year and a half ago? This guy doesn’t need $1.5M, he needs assissted suicide. Just climb in the pine box, Espinosa. You’ll be a lot happier.

#16

>> I’m hoping I’m safe under statue of limitations…

What statue is that? We all have our limitations and such but a statue? You mean it is limited in its ability to move? I dunno… I’m kinda lost here. Ara statues also a protectec class?

#17

‘guide dogs’ aren’t exclusively for the physically disabled.
about 2 months ago i was riding the bus and a man with a yippy toy breed of dog in his arms boarded the bus. i asked him how he got away with this he showed me a guide dog i.d. of sorts for it and explained that the dog was a ‘perscription’ for suicidal depression. it this were the same scenario, it would make a little more sense :slight_smile:

#18

After years of opression by canines, this feline merely cracked under the pressure. Here this cat clawed his way to the top, pulled himself up by his own pawstraps and in haughtly strides one of the opressors as if he owned the place. Was his owner blind to this fact? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I say to you, yes, it may have been a hate crime, but it was a hate crime brought on by years - no, centuries of being set upon by the dogs, being catspaw of dogs, being bitten, being harrassed and yes, even killed by this hated enemy.

I ask you, is it any wonder that this defendent cracked and gave way to an irrational hate. No it isn’t. I repeat, no it isn’t. Any non-catatonic being would do the same. Perhaps in a purrfect world this poor beast could turn the other cheek, but ladies and gentlemen, we do not live in such a world. For that reason I ask you to hand down a decision of, not quilty by reason of temporary insanity.

Jeez, after that, I need to go take a catnap.

#19

People will say anything if there is a chance of a monitary reward.

#20

Anything