Here is an interesting question: is it animal cruelty to dye your cat’s fur to match your own hair? That is the question to be answered in a proceeding in England where Natasha Gregory, 22, has been hunted down like Jack the Dyer.
The manhunt began when people spotted a pink cat walking around Swindon-Wilthire. A national search was halted when a young woman with telltale pink hair stepped forward to claim her cat Oi! Kitty. Despite the national press condemning the dye job, Gregory said that she loved pink, loved her cat, and really loved having a pink cat.
Now, she will face the folks at the RSPCA and many are calling for conviction. However, is simply dyeing your cat’s fur cruelty to animals? Some experts are quoted as saying that other animals might react in a hostile fashion to a color close to red, but that hardly seems a basis for a charge. Some people dress their animals up in outfits which might have a similarly alarming impact on other animals, but we do not call it animal cruelty. I have seen pets dressed up like New Orleans pimps with feathered hats and rhinestone jackets where even I wanted to intervene and strip the animal. However, such matters are left to the owners and there is no accounting for taste.
I am usually complaining about the lack of serious sanctions for animal cruelty, but I am not convinced that this should qualify. Unless the dye is caustic or physical harmful to the cat, I do not view this as a matter for public condemnation.
Source: Daily Mail
Animals groom themselves and other animals by licking foreign matter attached to their fur, and will do so incessantly until the foreign matter is gone. Doing this causes excessive secretion of saliva which may be bad for the skin and fur roots, not to mention developing other behavioural problems. As well, the dye itself may contain harmful ingredients to animals especially small ones. It is not a good idea to do this to a pet you love and care for, as you would not want to do things that might be harmful to your child.
I guess in this case the abuse done to the legal system far outweighs the ‘abuse’ done to the cat.
Maybe sue the RSPCA so we can get some of our tax money back and some sense in justice?
It is my understanding that cats do not have color vision, so it is unlikely that the cat would have been distressed by this activity. Certainly much less so than having its claws removed, being neutered, being bathed, having its tail shortened, or perhaps even to being confined inside.
Well, I’ve waited long enough. Someone has to step up to the plate.
I, at least, honor and respect Natasha Gregory’s right to publicly display her pink pussie. And if she decides one day to shave her pussy, and then walk around the town with her shaved pussy for all to see, all the better.
No charges were brought and no charges will be brought over this matter and the cat has been returned to its owner, the “dye” was harmless food colouring and caused no damage to the the cat
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5i9Q8oJ6b22uUsi7AuUAQrpZgNlIQ?docId=N0017211285691529436A
I live very near to the town where this happened. There are some really rather stupid people there. This is not much of a surprise to anybody around here….. I’m tempted to put it down to the fact that she’s unemployed and got bugger all else to do.
I can’t imagine that the cat sat still for the procedure … why in the world would one do this to a pet?
Well we not only not only legislate morality…but dying your cat to…..hmmm….