saw this on the news tonight..

[FindMatt]

Hi there,

My name is Katie Woodward and I started the Find Matt Campaign, which was instrumental in the capture.
I saw the mutilation video in court and that is what drove me to help police find this guy.
You can view my website at www.findmatt.org (I also just started a new campaign called "Kensington's" Campaign to encourage the cats owner to come forward).
If you have any questions about the case, feel free to ask me. You can post them here or send me an email by writing to [email protected]
Take care,

Katie Woodward

[moosmom]

Katie,

You are to be commended for your courageous determination in catching that disgusting piece of crap of a human. Keep up the good work!!

What makes me sick is that laws are always passed AFTER the fact and AFTER many animals are tortured, abused and killed.

[slick]

Congratulations Katie! Moosmom took the words right out of my mouth! You are a hero in my eyes!! Thank you on behalf of all pets everywhere.

[FindMatt]

Hi there,

Thanks for your kind words, however I don't consider myself a hero by any means. I just did what I had to.
I saw the torture video in court and I wouldn't have been able to go home and look at myself in the mirror if I didn't try to help in some way.
There were quite a few people directly involved in the search that deserve as much, if not more, recognition and credit.
Detective Gordon Scott and Detective-Constable John Margetson of Toronto Police (14 Division) & Amy White and John Dobranski of the Toronto Humane Society are some of the most passionate, dedicated professionals in the city.
As far as our animal cruelty laws, there have been no significant changes since 1892. I'd like to thank that we, as a society, have evolved enough to elicit such a change. Our animals should no longer be considered 'Property' (which is what the law classes them as right now). For more info on getting things changed, you can visit a great Toronto-based website - the Toronto Coalition for AntiCruelty Legislation: www.anticruelty.ca
Take care and again, thank-you.

Katie Woodward

[carole]

Reading this thread made me feel physically ill, i cant get the horror of it all out of my mind, i just cant believe this world has such evil morons in it.
I have to say i wish i had not read it, but i cant bury my head in the sand, thank goodness those !@&*@!#%# were caught.
I cant bring myself to say anymore on the subject, the feelings i have for that animals torture overwhelm me.

[FindMatt]

Originally posted by carole
Reading this thread made me feel physically ill, i cant get the horror of it all out of my mind, i just cant believe this world has such evil morons in it.
I have to say i wish i had not read it, but i cant bury my head in the sand, thank goodness those !@&*@!#%# were caught.
I cant bring myself to say anymore on the subject, the feelings i have for that animals torture overwhelm me.

Carole,

While I respect your feelings, I must say that if we ignore these horrific acts of violence they will, most certainly, continue.
We cannot let the perpetrators of these crimes get away with their actions and so we must face them and do something about it.
Take care,

Katie Woodward
www.findmatt.org

[carole]

oh i could not agree more, like i said i dont want to bury my head in the sand, i just wish i had not seen it really, as it haunts me, i cried my eyes out last nite just thinking of what this poor creature went through, it gave me nightmares.
I commend you, and i would never stand by and let an animal suffer in any way myself, i would be the first to dob someone in for animal cruelty even if it were my own family.
I could not bring myself to read any further, but i do hope this evil moron gets punished, i believe the punishment does not fit the crime, i think its time we as a nation did something about this, if there is anything i can do on this side of the world, petitions etc just let me know., and i will do my best to help .
STAMP OUT ALL CRUELTY.
I know a lot of people wont agree with me, but the old law and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, really should apply in some cases.

[FindMatt]

Originally posted by carole
oh i could not agree more, like i said i dont want to bury my head in the sand, i just wish i had not seen it really, as it haunts me, i cried my eyes out last nite just thinking of what this poor creature went through, it gave me nightmares.
I commend you, and i would never stand by and let an animal suffer in any way myself, i would be the first to dob someone in for animal cruelty even if it were my own family.
I could not bring myself to read any further, but i do hope this evil moron gets punished, i believe the punishment does not fit the crime, i think its time we as a nation did something about this, if there is anything i can do on this side of the world, petitions etc just let me know., and i will do my best to help .
STAMP OUT ALL CRUELTY.
I know a lot of people wont agree with me, but the old law and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, really should apply in some cases.

Carole,

Thank-you for your response.
The nature of this case is very horrific. It is something that, after watching the video and being present during court proceedings, has haunted me for over a year now.
I can, however, find some comfort in knowing we got the third young man who participated in the video. We know who he is and he is no longer walking our streets. Also, the sentence given to one of the convicted (Jesse Power) is being appealled. He originally received 90 days of jail time to be served on weekends (so as not to interfere with schooling) but we are hoping for more this time around. The appeal is on May 28 (more info at www.findmatt.org/the_future.htm)
I just wanted to add that while I do understand everyones frustrations with this case, I cannot condone violence directed towards the involved individuals.
Thanks again,

Katie Woodward
www.findmatt.org

[IttyBittyKitty]

Oh MY GOD this made me cry my eyes out! Both the Kensington cat and Krista! That picture of beautiful little Krista just tore my heart to peices. If she didn't have a furrever home, I'd offer her one right here and now even though I'm only allowed one cat and am many continents away!

This is truly a symptom of a very sick society (not just Canada, but all Western societies). When are people going to WAKE UP? These disgusting, vile, evil animal abusers of today are tomorrows child rapists, wife-beaters and SERIAL KILLERS! I would bet a million dollars that in ten years to come at least one of these horrible men will be an infamous for one of the above crimes! THEN will everyone will be sorry for giving them lenient sentances? For school indeed! Well, who on Earth wants their child to be in the same school as one of these individuals?

We had a similar case in Brisbane where a young lad brought home a staffy puppy. His dad did not want to keep the puppy, which is fair enough, but his outporing of violence towards the puppy (resulting in its death) was absolutely sickening. The sick bastard went straight to Wacol jail where my uncle is a screw and hopefully giving him hell!!!!

GOOD ON YOU Katie Woodward for all your hard work - you are definitely a hero in my eyes! You have done that poor defenseless cat a great deed! My lovely kitty Pixel sends you kisses and headbumpies for standing up for what is right! Do keep us updated on your search for Kensington's Meowmie and Daddy and any other matters relating to the precious furry ones!

Just a question ... what chain of events lead you to being involved in the courtcase in which the video was shown?

I am sorry to rant and rave but these stories disgust me to the very core of my soul, and make me want to throw up.

[FindMatt]

Hi there,

Thanks for your response.
Unfortunately, both cats you speak of (Kensington and Krista) are deceased. Kensington was the cat from the torture video, while Krista suffered burns in a seperate incident and succumbed to her injuries a short while later.
If you want to stay updated on the case I'm working on, you can join the official mailing list. The address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kensingtoncat/join/ (Please be aware that while this case is a graphic one, every effort is made to ensure that the mailing list is suitable for those who wish to be kept updated on the case, but do not want to be inundated with the disturbing details).
To answer your other question, about how I got involved in this case... I was involved in animal rights for about 2 years at the time and I was scanning the newspapers for animal issues. I saw a story about the cat case and found out that one of the court dates was coming up for Jesse Power & Anthony Wennekers (2 of the 3 involved). I went to the court dates with a friend and become involved in the case from there on, with the Find Matt Campaign and later, "Kensington's" Campaign - (the latter is still active).
Hope this answers your questions.
Take care,

Katie Woodward
www.findmatt.org

[emily_the_spoiled]

Hello everyone,

I just thought that I would give you the latest update on this case.

http://www.canada.com/national/story...4-C5DEC492507E

[IttyBittyKitty]

That judge was sooo stupid, how could anyone be any more cruel to animal then those three vile individuals were? Well, like the article said, I don't think I'd want to know!

[carole]

I had hoped they would THROW THE BOOK AT THEM, as the saying goes, i often thought maybe to rehabilitate these monsters, they should have to spend 2 years working with animals at a shelter(totally supervised of course) scooping up the pooh etc etc, but i wondered if this would maybe make them worse towards animals and hate them even more, or would it teach them to love them i dunno any thoughts on this idea?

[BastetsMum]

Rehabilitation only works when the person WANTS to be rehabilitated.

These men didn't see it was wrong in what they did (It makes me sick thinking about it so I won't repeat it again).

Therefore Rehabilitation would be a wasted effort and will only begin to resent animals more. Personally I beleive a life ban and photographs and names of these nasty people should be published in animal newsletters and other such places to warn potential breeders and animal dealers not to deal with these people.

A life ban on owning pets should be compulsory and if caught with even a guppy should be sentenced to a minimum 5 years in prison with no chance of parole. Councelling should be compulsary as well with a psychiatric assessment.

Lets see how many people enact out cruel violence on animals again!

[kitten645]

This is truly disgusting and while I am not an advocate of capital punishment I regard harming animals and children the worst possible offence. I do not even consider these "young men" because this cruelty is beyond human. I will not allow such a terrible missuse of space to be in my species. Sadly animal cruelty laws are practically non-exsistant not ONLY in Canada but in all the world. I believe the UK is among the most progressive in regards to animal rights. I also know that this horror is not just the "western" world. Animals are treated terribly in all parts of the world. The thing that makes this even more horrible and what people who believe "it's just an animal" should know that this sort of behavior inevitably leads to equal horrors toward people. See Jeffrey Daumer(sp?). Such disregard for a life that cannot defend itself should reap the harshest of punishments. I don't believe that anyone commiting this sort of act can be "rehabilitated". Where does one go after doing something so against every "human" compassion??