just f@#king with you.
but look at this:
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/vet...trial-1.593251
Woman on trial for selling 'gothic kittens'
WILKES-BARRE - Holly Crawford pierced the ears and necks of cats, bobbed their tails and sold "gothic kittens" online - acts that amount to torture, forensic veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck said as the prosecution's lead witness in a rare type of animal cruelty trial that began Tuesday.
Dr. Merck's testimony highlighted the first day of a trial in which Luzerne County Deputy District Attorney David Pedri said in his opening statement that Ms. Crawford maimed and inflicted pain upon three black kittens because "she thought it was neat" to sell gothic kittens on eBay. He used for support Dr. Merck's testimony that the practice caused "excruciating pain."
Ms. Crawford's attorneys scoffed at the idea, citing veterinarian Donald Sankey's testimony the felines were in "pretty good health" when he treated them Dec. 17, 2008, and that Dr. Merck never examined the cats.
"I don't know how they're going to prove that, because nobody can speak for a cat," defense attorney John Pike said. "It's all speculation."
But armed with its star witness, Dr. Merck, the prosecution spent a full day of the case first brought to authorities by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals trying to show what the kittens felt when their ears and necks were pierced. Testimony dealt with the pain authorities said they endured when bands were tied so tightly around their tails it caused them to fall off.
Dr. Merck, who has earned national acclaim for her work on NFL quarterback Michael Vick's dog-fighting case, said piercing the kittens' necks produced a feeling of submission that would linger with the silver metal jewelry. Mother cats pick up their young from the scruff of the neck, she said, because pressure on the sensitive nerves there leads to submissive action.
"No matter what they tried, they could not escape from this," Dr. Merck said. "It would make them feel as if they were constantly being bitten."
Dr. Merck has spent almost 22 years as a veterinarian, 17 specifically treating cats. She's never seen pierced ears in cats, she said, and knows of about six tail-docking procedures. Those were done for medical, not aesthetic, reasons, she said.
Though humane officer Carol Morrison said she saw redness near the piercing sites, there was no sign of infection, according to Dr. Sankey's medical report. The kittens had normal temperatures and were bright, alert and responsive, Dr. Sankey testified.
Prosecutors called five witnesses and delved into new areas of animal cruelty law before resting their case Tuesday afternoon. Pennsylvania's animal cruelty law forbids animal fighting and curtails the amount the time animals spend in labor, but says nothing about treatment as specific as piercing cats' ears or docking their tails.
That has complicated matters for both sides as prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangle over whether this case constitutes animal cruelty and work to define the crime for the jury.
The case began in winter 2008 when authorities acted on a tip from PETA about an eBay advertisement for "gothic kittens." Ms. Morrison on Dec. 17, 2008, took five kittens from Ms. Crawford's home at 71 Dobson Road, Ross Twp., charging her with cruelty to animals. Three kittens had pierced ears; one's tail had been docked, and one had a band around its tail, which was later amputated.
Ms. Crawford sat quietly in the courtroom Tuesday, taking notes or turning to speak briefly with family during breaks. "God, I'm so tired," she told her mother when testimony finished.
The trial continues this morning.
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/vet...trial-1.593251