Compare and contrast the attitudes.
Men who have been accused of the heinous crime of rape, but have not (yet, if ever) been found guilty, are named and shamed, facing opprobrium and lynch-mob revenge whether they have actually done anything or not.
A woman who is caught on camera, in broad daylight, putting someone’s cat in a wheelie bin gets anonymity and police protection.*
Still, at least the old bitch is known now to the RSPCA. Just this one time, I’ll not complain if they proceed with their usual fascist bully-boy tactics.
AJ
* Yes, I know the ‘facts’ are dodgy, and she’ll be unmasked at some point, if not as soon as she’s charged. Never let these inconveniences get in the way of a mid-morning bile-spit, eh?
Al Jahom's Final Word 
I would compare it this way: Woman dumps cat in bin. Quite cruel but no harm done. Now needs police protection because of public threats of violence.
Kids attack smokers in street for school project. Police fully endorse it.
But she didn’t know there’d be no harm done. And she plainly knew what she was doing was wrong – check out the way she looks around to ensure she isn’t observed.
The ‘Ciggy Busters’ thing is just as bad, but condemnation isn’t a zero-sum game – there’s enough for this barmy bitch and them, too…
Did you see the Nealon case in yestyerdays Grauniad? It is on page 13.
Justice peace and democracy are completely safe in this country as long as everybody is constantly filming everybody else…..is that a lens poking out of your trousers al Jahom?
The woman is mentally ill. No sane person would behave in that way.
I don’t care for the sort of online lynch mob that forms around incidents like this. They really do make death threats, and they really mean them, at least at the time. It is horrible – the very worst aspects of humanity surface in response to things like this.
I know it’s nice when an online resistance can be mobilised against something Righteous like the Ciggy Busters, but even then, the mob soon turns nasty, and all the nastiness is justified as a response to something said to be worse. It’s not good. I bet that Ciggy Busters woman has received a few threats by now, and this really doesn’t help the cause at all.
“Bucko says:
August 24, 2010 at 11:47 am
I would compare it this way: Woman dumps cat in bin. Quite cruel but no harm done.”
No harm?
Light , water and food deprivation, no air, found terrified it its own shit..how about if the bin got emptied?
Plus of course, that is a criminal act under an old law..can’t remember which one…
Not just an old law, this is exactly the sort of thing that the RSPCA’s Animal Welfare Act is intended for. I guess the RSPCA are currently figuring out how to prosecute her.
“Light , water and food deprivation, ”
My cat goes all night without light, water or food and it does it no harm. So do most peoples cats.
“no air,”
Wheelie bins are not air tight. Thats why it didnt suffocate.
“found terrified it its own shit..”
It may have had a shit. I doubt it was wallowing in it.
“how about if the bin got emptied?”
It didn’t.
Your cat goes out at night to roam open countryside or garden. And no doubt to eat and drink whatever ot could find. This cat couldn’t.
And no, the bins weren’t emptied – luckily.
But we don’t decide not to prosecute drunk drivers if they haven’t hit anyone. We convict people of making death threats even if they are unlikely to carry them out.
Put simply, this woman at best lacks empathy, at worst, gained some twisted pleasure from the thought of the cat’s distress or worse, the owner’s.
I’d quite like to see people like that get what’s coming to them. Before it isn’t just cats…
Julia – I do agree and I’m not trying to condone her behaviour, just put it in context. The reaction to this has been huge and way over the top. The negative reaction to the ciggy busters was contained within a quite small circle of like minded thinkers.
What she did was cruel but there was no harm done and now she is public enemy number one. I just wish some people would stand up for the rights of humans with the same vigour they do for animals.
My cat is too young to go out yet so doesnt eat at night but I suppose thats beside the point.
With regard to drunk drivers, and at the risk of being called a cunt a lot, I dont think we should prosecute if they havent caused any harm.
Quote “Put simply, this woman at best lacks empathy, at worst, gained some twisted pleasure from the thought of the cat’s distress or worse, the owner’s.” Yeah shes a bitch but that doesnt mean we should cover her in BBQ sauce and throw her to the lions like some have suggested :-)
WHAT?!!! She could have at least boiled some kettles before dropping it in. I dont like dry meat.
Anyone tried a catfood curry?
Mary Bale found out that anonimity lasts about twenty minutes in todays world.
Cruel and stupid thing she did. Needs to go before a JP IMO.
However much I despise the woman’s actions, I can’t approve of the RSPCA prosecuting her. It simply is not right for charities to have powers delegated to them by the state.(lent to the state in the first place don’t forget)
How about giving ASH the power to prosecute smokers at bus stops? No?
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