And disarmed him. :eek:
It’s sad that the kitten died, but I’m sure it faced a much less horrific death at the vets than it would have if it had continued to have been beaten to death. I hope Jamarea realizes that the fact that the kitten eventually died anyway doesn’t diminish his good deed.
Amen. If there were some way I could send a message to that kid myself, I’d do it.
As for the kid who actually killed the wee kitty, what I wouldn’t give for five minutes alone with him…
There’s something really wrong with that 12-year-old. I’m glad he’s going to get punished, but I also hope there is good psychological treatment in his future.
A future Jeffrey Dahmer, oh boy. I hope the maladjusted brat gets some therapy.
As it happens, there is. One of the Facebook groups I’m a member of has posted a location where you can send a card and they’ll make sure Jamarea gets it:
Animal Miracle Foundation
4804 NW Bethany Blvd. Suite 12-197
Portland, OR 97229
(this is from the “Little Heart Animal Abuse Awareness for Kids” group–Little Heart is the name that folks have given the kitty because of the blue heart on his cast)
I sent an email to the reporter, asking her to pass on a message to Jamaera. My note basically said “keep up the good work, kid, you’re a hero, and your mom is doing a great job”.
Wouldn’t it be cool if Jamarea got several notes like that from a lot of people? Just an idea. 
The reporter’s email address is here.
Thanks! The article says he wants to be a vet someday.
I wonder… We know that “normal” people don’t do stuff like beating kittens to death. But is that something taught, or is it something inherent in our nature? I wouldn’t be surprised by the latter; I thought I read somewhere that animals, psychologically, find babies of all species “cute” precisely so adults will take the trouble to take care of them.
Well, in a case like this, the kid’s only motive was to cause pain. He wasn’t mad at the cat, the cat didn’t do anything to him – his sole purpose was to take pleasure in making it suffer. Human beings aren’t wired that way. There are animals I don’t like, but even then I don’t want people to go out and torture them. (I LOATHE snakes – can’t even look at pictures – but I’d be horrified if this kid were torturing one)
That’s why I said it’s a major warning sign. Even for non-animal lovers, I’m guessing they aren’t interesting in watching something suffer, let alone getting pleasure out of it. The fact that the kitten couldn’t fight back, was totally innocent – that’s pretty messed up.
Maybe the “cuteness factor” is a part of it, maybe it’s not. I don’t know.
It’s sad that the kitten died, but shelter officials are asking people to adopt the other cats at the shelter in its honor. I hope they all find homes quickly so some good can come out of this tragedy.
It really is too bad that this kid isn’t allowed to have pets in his apartment. Because he’d probably the first on the list.