Gothic Kittens

Woman accused of piercing 'gothic' kittens will face charges in county court 1:47 p.m.

By Bob Kalinowski
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 1:48 PM EST
A woman accused of animal cruelty for piercing the ears of kittens, cutting off their tails, and marketing them as gothic will face the charges in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

Holly Crawford, 34, of Sweet Valley, was in Luzerne County Central Court today for a preliminary hearing.

“This was tying a rubber band around a cat’s tail so tight that it falls off,” said Deputy District Attorney David Pedri. “She caused the cats pain. She did this to sell them to make money.”

Crawford’s defense attorney, Demetrius Fannick, argued state law “goes on and on” about specific acts of animal cruelty, but nothing about piercing cats and docking their tails.

Prosecutors said a part of the cruelty included Crawford tying rubber bands around the tails of the cats so they would fall off. She’d then pierce the nub.

“There’s nothing in the statute that expressly says you can’t pierce your cat’s ears or necks, or even crop their tails,” Fannick said. “It’s a case that you will be for or against as an animal owner. Let the legislature say you can’t pierce or tattoo your animal, and it will be different.”

Magisterial District Judge Paul Hadzick said the case was a gray area in the law and predicted it might one day cause for a clarification in the law. At the very least, he said it’s a case that should be decided by a jury or a higher judge.

“I don’t think that the decision is for me to be made here,” Hadzick said.

Charges were dropped against co-defendant William Blansett, 37, after Crawford admitted she was solely responsible for piercing the cats. The charges stem from a search warrant executed Dec. 17 at Crawford’s 71 Dobson Road home, where the business was based.

Animal control officers and state police located three pierced kittens and two others. The kittens had their ears pierced with 14-gauge jewelry, a standard size for eyebrow and belly piercings in humans. It caused their ears to flop. Their necks were pierced with submission rings. One cat’s tail had fallen off and another had a rubber band tied tightly around its tail.

Arrest papers say Crawford and Blansett bragged they would put “a rubber band tightly around the base of the tail to stop circulation to the tail, which eventually falls off.” Blansett, of 188 Gordon Road, Sweet Valley, described it as a “castrating band,” police said.

Crawford told the official “the kittens cried when she pierced them, but seemed fine afterward,” arrest papers say.

Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the case to the attention of local investigators after seeing an advertisement for “Gothic kittens” on the online auction site eBay. One PETA official, acting as a possible buyer, visited the home on Dec. 16. The suspects displayed the mutilated kittens and told the official about how they planned to obtain and disfigure more of the cats to sell, arrest papers say.

http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/02/17/news/doc499b064a67cd3862028437.txt