I am glad that I am not the only one who feels strongly about this. I hope their two kids never find out - it was actually my niece's cat, so she might feel bad about it. Lobodeb you are so right, not everyone thinks of their pets the way we do, so I should really keep that in mind. I don't think my BIL likes cats very much anyway, he thinks it's funny to blow in my Belle's face until she hisses (I was NOT at home when he did that, my hubby told me about it )