Attorney: Killing Wal-Mart cat legal - (Rant)

[wolflady]

Ok, this completely rubbed me the wrong way. Reading this article, they state that shooting stray animals on their property is legal. But, who's property is Wal-Mart? Isn't that public property? I think so...and why would people have guns on public property? This just doesn't make sense...and these a$$holes should not have gotten the animal cruelty charges dismissed. If the stupid Manager didn't want the cat on the property...why didn't he just call animal control instead of unleashing these uneducated, heartless idiots to "take care of it"?

What's your opinion? (maybe I should have put this in the Dog House?)

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Attorney: Killing Wal-Mart cat legal


Associated Press
January 5, 2005


EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Two former Wal-Mart employees did not break state law when they shot and killed a cat on store property, said an attorney for one of the men.

Attorney Michael Keating said Indiana law allows people to kill stray animals on their property.

"Had they taken a shotgun with a deer slug and blown it into little bitty pieces, no crime would have been committed," he said Tuesday.

"You can shoot a stray animal on your property; that's been the law in Indiana since the time of the formation of the state," added Keating, who represents former assistant manager Christopher Anderson.

Vanderburgh County sheriff's deputies arrested Anderson, 29, and another former assistant manager, Jeffrey Hardin, 21, on Dec. 28.

Anderson told investigators that he shot the cat with a pellet gun after the manager ordered employees to get rid of the animal, which was living in a storage trailer behind the store on the city's east side.

The cat was wounded but survived, a sheriff's report said, and the next day Anderson and Hardin repeatedly shot the cat with a pellet gun until it died.

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco said Tuesday that he had decided not to file charges against former store manager Darrel Weitzel after investigators determined Weitzel had not ordered Anderson to kill the cat.

"They said he never did instruct him to shoot the cat; he instructed him to 'get rid of' the cat," Levco said.

Anderson and Hardin initially were arrested on felony animal cruelty charges. Those charges were dismissed Tuesday and Levco said he would file misdemeanor charges against the men.

Wal-Mart said Tuesday that four managers and an hourly employee had been fired for violating company policy following an internal investigation of the incident. Spokeswoman Sharon Weber said she could not release their names because of company policy.

The Arkansas-based retailer condemned the shooting and pledged to donate $10,000 to be split between pet groups in Vanderburgh County and neighboring Warrick County.

The Vanderburgh County Humane Society had not been contacted about the donation as of Tuesday, said its director, Kendall Paul.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I, in no way, agree with the shooting of the cat, but....Wal-Mart property is Wal-Mart property, not public property. Wal-Mart bought and paid for the property and they are paying the property taxes on it, so it is their property and yes, technically they have the right to do whatever they want on their private property - within the law.

I think this is extremely bad PR for Wal-Mart, and they should do something about it, but if the law in Indiana allows such killings on private property......

I, personally, think it's dispicable and the manager and the employees should be reprimanded by Wal-Mart and they should put out a big special notice to all their managers and employees that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Will they do that? I doubt it. Just another reason to avoid Wal-Mart.

[RICHARD]

A totally different view????


IF THE LAWYER'S cat was the one killed with a pellet gun...wouldn't we be looking at a multi million dollar lawsuit?

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I own a .22 caliber pump pellet gun and there is NO FRIGGIN WAY that you can kill an animal with one shot....In order for me to kill an animal with a gun like that I'd have to shoot, pump up the gun, load it, shoot.......Most pellet guns/rifles are loaded one shot at a time.

And if I shot at an animal with a pellet gun, chances are the poor thing wouldn't hang around to get shot to death.

These guys cornered that poor animal and killed it.

The "just get rid of it" order from the manager reeks of the kind of crap you hear from soldiers during war...

"The boss didn't tell us how, so we invented a way to do it- we grabbed a pellet gun off the shelf and went hunting...."

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Reason you left your last job?

I was part of a cat death squad......

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10,000 dollars???
Take a few bucks and take out an ad in the papers-naming these fools.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom

Wal-Mart property is Wal-Mart property,
not public property.

I think this is extremely bad PR for Wal-Mart,
and they should do something about it...

... it's dispicable and the manager and the employees
should be reprimanded by Wal-Mart...

I think Wal-Mart has tried to address some of your concerns, Deb >>>

1) I think "Wally" figured out Real Quick-Like that this was
*BAD* for public relations!
"The Arkansas-based retailer condemned the shooting and
pledged to donate $10,000 to be split between pet groups in
Vanderburgh County and neighboring Warrick County."
The Corporate Pledge of $10,000 to the Local Animal Shelters
in the area is a rather LARGE Donation even for a company
as large as Wal-Mart!

2) As for the involved employees - they are now EX-employees!
"Wal-Mart said Tuesday that four managers and an hourly employee
had been fired for violating company policy
following an internal investigation of the incident."

Hey lil Kitty ~
Rest In Eternal Peace at the Bridge...
Knowing that your Supreme Sacrifice will NEVER be Forgotten!

/s/ Phred
.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Cinder & Smoke
I think Wal-Mart has tried to address some of your concerns, Deb >>>

Oops, sorry, guess I've been a little preoccupied and haven't kept up with the entire story.

[moosmom]

Isn't the discharging of a weapon within city limits illegal???

I'm sorry, but I will NEVER, EVER set foot in a Wal-Mart again. What those people did was wrong. They should be charged and the store should pay a "hefty" fine. Okay, so they were fired. Donation or not (hush money perhaps???). The bottom line is a poor innocent animal is dead. Why? Because some a$$hole of an owner dumped the cat to fend for itself. Animals are not disposable. It's about time the judicial system changed in this country and hold people accountable for their actions.

The whole thing makes me ill. "KILL AN ANIMAL - GO TO JAIL. THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!!"

[thawks120]

I hate animal cruilty as much as anyone else here... but let me play "Devils Advocate" .. Is it Walmart policy to kill strays on their property.. I Don't Think So.. Is it Walmart policy to have employees discharge a firearm around or near the public.. I Don't Think So.....
What we have here, is VERY poor judgement on the part of the manager for telling the employees to "Get Rid of The Cat" and just as Poor judgement on the part of the employees for following such stupid "Orders" Lets face it, this country is falling victim to its own stupidity. Anyone with half a brain would have called "Animal Control" for a Humane live trap to be placed to capture the cat...
Lets get the Stupid manager and employees out of the picture, fine them, 30 days in jail, community service, and LETS MOVE ON>.....

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by thawks120
I hate animal cruilty as much as anyone else here... but let me play "Devils Advocate" .. Is it Walmart policy to kill strays on their property.. I Don't Think So.. Is it Walmart policy to have employees discharge a firearm around or near the public.. I Don't Think So.....

Technically a pellet gun is more a weapon than a firearm

[wolflady]

Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
I, in no way, agree with the shooting of the cat, but....Wal-Mart property is Wal-Mart property, not public property. Wal-Mart bought and paid for the property and they are paying the property taxes on it, so it is their property and yes, technically they have the right to do whatever they want on their private property - within the law.

Oops...sorry, my mistake. Just the thought that allowing firearms at retail stores scares me. I can understand doing whatever you want on private property (I was thinking of homes here, didn't even consider stores as private property, but you're right) within reason, but shooting IMO is not one of them.
moosmom, I was thinking the same thing about the city limits...

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I moved away from Indiana. Just that statement about "blown it into little bitty pieces" that "Attorney Michael Keating" made makes me sick. Heartless sicko. I think that's a little extreme and in no way makes it right...private property or not. We need harsher punishment for animal cruelty...period.

You are right Richard, they shot the cat multiple times. Nice, huh?

[catmandu]

Those Poor Strays,they should not be picked on,as its not thier fault,that they didnt ahve Guardians,to watch over them.And there is no excuse,for cruelty,in a Land of Plenty.