# Cat attacks dog -- it's a hate crime!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [April 15, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731 "2002-04-15T13:59:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/1 "2002-04-15T13:59:18Z")
From [this](http://www.msnbc.com/local/KNSD/A1153618.asp?cp1=1) 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
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/2 "2002-04-15T15:06:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Espinosa, who is representing himself, said money is not the biggest issue in his lawsuit. He hopes it will educate the public about the legal rights of people with “hidden disabilities.”
Representing yourself is a pretty glaring disability.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/3 "2002-04-15T15:08:40Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Newton\_meter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newton_meter)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/4 "2002-04-15T15:09:34Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/5 "2002-04-15T15:47:37Z")
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. 😃 😃 😃
+++++++++++++++++++++++
By the way: I am an official defender of dogs. 🙂
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### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/6 "2002-04-15T16:16:36Z")
So many punchlines, so little time…
> [@](#):
>
> Espinosa, who was a reporter for the North County Times at the time,…
This guy is blind?
> [@](#):
>
> His complaint said that, as a member of a protected disabled class, he expected a proper response from the city, which he never got
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…
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### Author:  [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/7 "2002-04-15T16:18:42Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/8 "2002-04-15T16:32:12Z")
I don’t think he’s blind. Wonder what the disability is. 😕
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/9 "2002-04-15T16:49:38Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Parameter\_928\_178](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parameter_928_178)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/10 "2002-04-15T17:01:08Z")
Don’t forget the **[elves](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=109649)**!
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by wring_
> **Humans routinely attack other species w/o repercussions (except, of course, from PETA), ex: Cows, sheep, pigs etc.**
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/11 "2002-04-15T17:10:34Z")
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?
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### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/12 "2002-04-15T17:28:23Z")
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](http://Lassietits.com)?
There is just too much we don’t know.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/13 "2002-04-15T17:58:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Beeblebrox \*
> \*\*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 fleas?
>
> There is just too much we don’t know. \*\*
😃
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/14 "2002-04-16T12:52:27Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/15 "2002-04-16T13:01:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \*
> \*\*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.
> \*\*
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.
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/16 "2002-04-16T16:48:22Z")
\>\> 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?
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### Author:  [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/17 "2002-04-16T18:25:37Z")
‘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 🙂
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### Author:  [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2002, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/18 "2002-04-17T11:52:03Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/19 "2002-04-17T12:04:51Z")
People will say anything if there is a chance of a monitary reward.
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### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2002, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-attacks-dog-its-a-hate-crime/103731/20 "2002-04-17T18:58:35Z")
Anything
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