The Cat, the middle aged woman and the wheeliebin... not a lot of compassion around

It's been a while since I have had the urge to write up my blog but today a story that's all over the news prompts me to do so!

This is the story of the Cat, the middle aged woman and the wheeliebin. I saw this story develop yesterday and go 'viral', as they say these days, within hours of it coming to my attention on Facebook when one of my friends posted a link to it yesterday morning. Within hours, it was all over the place.

By lunchtime even SKY News were mentioning the story... and last night, most TV and radio media news outlets were carrying it. Here's a video from ITN news that shows what all the hullabaloo is about:



I am pretty sure the first reaction most of us have when seeing this video is one of shock and anger at the wickedness we see on the CCTV footage. I think it's understandable to be angry at the woman. It's also shocking to see a seemingly normal middle aged lady act in this way... to act so cruelly... to show such lack of compassion for a "living breathing creature", as the cat owner herself described it this morning on a phone in on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The thing is... and what prompts me to write today... is that there seems to me to be a lot of lack of compassion ALL around this story!

For starters, and for the sake of those of you who may think I am making some sort of apology for this woman's action... the woman of course, shows NO compassion at all for 'a living breathing creature'... and clearly that is very wrong!

But people's reactions to her action also seem to me to be very lacking in any compassion. I can understand people being angry... but some comments I've heard and read are quite vitriolic... even violent! One friend, who shall remain nameless, told me... and I quote:

"I'd kill that Bitch... I would hunt her down trust me! Why would someone want to do that???? I'd shove her in the bin and hide the bin and fix the lid so she couldn't get out! Oh she'd suffer... trust me!"

This made me laugh... and in this instance I know this particular lady could not hurt a fly... she's too nice (though she may think she's a bitch lol) but it does exemplify the very strong comments being made by many people today.

The other side of the coin are the people who are actually congratulating the woman for wanting to get rid of 'another effing cat'! I've seen some horrible comments made by people who actually think all cats are vermin and should be cruelly eliminated... in all sorts of uncolourful ways! Certainly not much compassion there!! Personally, I think these people are a bit sick. I cannot understand why or how it is that a sane, balanced human being can have such feelings towards a cat... or any 'living, breathing creature' for that matter!

But coming back to the yet unidentified middle aged woman... I can't help feeling a certain compassion for her today. Many I know, will be happy at the suffering this woman must be going through right now. Imagine... She must surely have seen herself on the news by now... so must her family have done! They must already be aware and will possibly have confronted her about it... they are in fear, wondering what to do.. wondering what is going to happen to her? She may be some guy's wife (God help him! lol), a mother, a daughter, a sister??

My point is, while what this woman did to the cat is clearly very wrong... I think we should have compassion for her. What makes a person do such a thing? Cruelty, yes... but why? To my mind... this woman has a problem... she's not 'right in the head' as we might say... bloody mental others might say! Either way, treating her with our anger... I don't think shows much compassion. I know she didn't show much compassion for the cat... but surely if that is wrong, so is not showing another human being some compassion!

I hope they identify this woman soon and that she gets the help she needs. A person who has such little compassion for another 'living, breathing creature' clearly needs help and our compassion... not our anger and punishment... in my humble view! :)

Update:

Since I wrote this earlier, it's now being reported that the woman has been found and the RSCPA are set to interview woman who dumped cat in wheelie bin

Jesus is watching you!

Here's a good joke... just received in my Inbox this afternoon, to break the monotony of your Monday... in case you need it!

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shone his flashlight around... looking for valuables, when a voice in the dark said; "Jesus knows you're here!!"

The burglar nearly jumped out of his skin... clicked his flashlight off... and froze!

When he heard nothing more... after a bit... he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires... clear as a bell he heard the voice again: "Jesus is watching you!"

Freaked out... he shined his light around frantically... looking for the source of the voice.

Finally, in the corner of the room his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot!!

"Did you just say that? he hissed at the parrot.

"Yep", the parrot confessed, then he squawked;

"I'm just trying to warn you... that HE IS is watching you!"

The burglar relaxed and replied:

"Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?"

"I'm Moses", replied the bird!

"Moses?", the burglar laughed.

"What kind of people would name a bird Moses?"

The parrot replied.. nodding towards the corner of the room;

"The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus!!"

In my Inbox today... Did you hear the one about the Bristol Zoo Car Park Attendant?

In my inbox today... the apparently true story and 'bit of a wheeze'... concerning a Car Park Attendant at Bristol Zoo.

An email currently circulating, tells the story as follows:

Outside Bristol Zoo, there is a car park for 150 cars and 8 coaches. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 and coaches £5. This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then one day... he just didn't turn up for work!

"Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management, "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."

"Err no", said the Council, "that car park is your responsibility"...

"Err no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council... wasn't he?"

"Err NO!"

Sitting in his villa in Spain, is a bloke who had been taking the car park fees, estimated at £400 per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years!!

Assuming 7 days week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million... Fanbloodytastic!!

Nice story huh? Would that it were true! Unfortunately... it isn't!

According to snopes.com, this tale is "purely the stuff of fiction rather than fact".

The Bristol Zoo says it has never experienced any confusion over parking attendants, and that it has several attendants and more than one car park, none open to coaches. Moreover, in response to Snopes.com inquiries about the tale, a Bristol Zoo representative said:

We have had numerous similar enquiries lately but I can assure you that this rumour is not true.

A version of this story also appeared in the Bristol Evening Post back in 2007 but it was as part of a feature on urban myths published to coincide with April Fool's Day, not as a reporting of a real-life event.

Sad... I'd like it to have been true!

Bristol Zoo

Bristol Zoo Gardens is a 12 acre site in Clifton that is run by the The Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society Ltd.

Awarded ‘Zoo of the Year 2004’ by the Good Britain Guide, Bristol Zoo Gardens has a continuous reputation for excellence, innovation, and dedication to conservation. It’s the fifth oldest zoo in the world and the oldest outside of a capital city, and a long established major tourist attraction in Bristol.

There's no such thing as bad publicity! I bet though... that the carpark attendants at Bristol Zoo these days... are absolutely fed up of being asked... if they work for the Council, the Zoo... or themselves!!

Swine Flu worries reach Pooh Corner

Swine Flu worries have reached fever pitch... and are rife everywhere! They've even reached Pooh Corner!!

Les Barker's Guide Cats for the Blind

Some of you may know I have a slightly serious problem with my eyesight. I have a severe bout of glaucoma, which I am told will make me blind within my lifetime. A prospect that, whilst there are probably worse things, one nevertheless has to come to terms with... and prepare for.

So, I was doing a little bit of research and came across Guide Cats for the Blind. This was originally a poem written by a fella called Les Barker.

If you haven't come across Les before you can probably be forgiven as he seems to have kept a relatively low profile. I only recently discovered him myself... and I can tell you, he's a bit of a gem... a bit from the old school as it were... very funny and well worth listening to if you have a good sense of humour and enjoy hearing words put together well, as I do!

Here's an excerpt from one of Les' live performances of Guide Cats for the Blind, set to some amusing pics... of Maine Coon kittens:



Les Barker (born 30 January 1947) is an English poet. He is most well known for his comedic poetry and parodies of popular songs, however he has also produced some very serious thought-provoking written work.

The poem Guide Cats for the Blind led Les in an an unexpected direction. The poem was heard by Clive Lever, a keyboard player and comedy songwriter from Maidstone, who also happens to be involved with an organisation called the The British Computer Association of the Blind. The association runs a program called 'EyeT4all' which aims to make computers accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Clive got in touch with Les, who agreed to the poem being used as the title track of a double fund raising CD. Les also agreed to the recording of a series of albums, in which his poems and songs would be recorded by artists from the folk world but also by well known celebrities from the entertainment and theatrical world. Presenters from all five BBC Radio stations featured on the albums and so far between £40,000 and £50,000 has been raised for the British Computer Association of the Blind's 'EyeT4all'.

So far three 'Guide Cats' albums have been produced, 'Guide Cats for the Blind', 'Missing Persians File' and 'Top Cat, White Tie and Tails'. A fourth album 'Catnav' is being prepared at the moment.

The CDs contain performances of Les's poems by members of the folk world like June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Steve Tilston, Mike Harding and Tom Paxton but also well known figures like Jimmy Young, Nicholas Parsons, Terry Wogan, Nicky Campbell, Robert Lindsay, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs.

Les' involvement with the British Computer Association of the Blind has been a new development for him and it has brought Les's work to a wider audience outside the folk club and festival circuit which has taken him very much to their hearts over the years.

Originally from Manchester he trained in accountancy before his talent for the written word was discovered. At first he toured around folk music venues as a solo performer then later with the Mrs Ackroyd Band (named after his pet mongrel dog Mrs Ackroyd).

Les is not a singer and the Mrs Ackroyd Band, with classically trained vocalists Hilary Spencer and Alison Younger and keyboard player Chris Harvey, have enabled Les' parodies to be performed live to enthusiastic response.

As well as touring Britain he has also performed in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada.

Les Barker recently had a heart problem which involved undergoing surgery, and he has had to disband The Mrs Ackroyd Band for the forseeable future but he has started solo gigging again and is happily well on the way to full recovery.

There is a growing campaign, by his folk fanbase, to get him chosen as the Poet Laureate for 2009. Even if this is not successful, it may bring his work to the attention of a wider public.... and I thought I would give this a helping hand tonight!

You can read more about Les Barker @ Wikipedia.

Burglar kills 3 month old puppy in Gibraltar

The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) reported this afternoon that they are investigating a burglary in which a three month old pet bull dog puppy was killed.

Police were called to investigate a burglary reported to them at 21:15hrs on Tuesday evening, 24th March 2009.

It appears that a residence at Castle Road was broken into sometime during the hours of 9am and 9pm on Tuesday 24th March. The only items that seems to have been stolen was a games console. However, the burglar or burglars, incomprehensibly, also saw fit to kill a three month old pet bull dog puppy that was in the residence!!

Why the burglar(s) saw fit to kill this puppy is beyond me. This image on the right, is of a bulldog puppy of a similar age as the one the burglars killed, in this case 14 weeks old. Surely, the little dog the burglars saw fit to kill, would not have been any threat to the burglar(s). It certainly would not have been able to give any evidence against them... so I find it incomprehensible that anyone could do such a thing... for ANY reason!

I really feel for the owners as they must be distraught over their loss of a loved pet!

The RGP report that crime scene investigators were called in to search for clues and that inquiries are being conducted. I very much hope they catch whoever is responsible for this appalling crime... and that they get the punishment they deserve!

I would ask anyone who may have any information about this dreadful incident... to contact the Royal Gibraltar Police on any of the following telephone numbers:

20072500 (non-emergencies only)
199 or 112 (emergencies only)
155 (Community Crime Line to anonymously report a crime)
20077677 (Drugs Hotline for a drugs related call)

Update - 10:12 am 26th March 2009:

According to a report on this in the Gibraltar Chronicle, apparently the puppy was dropped from a third floor balcony... the 'scumbags'!

In my Inbox today... Don't leave dogs and children unattended!

Don't leave dogs and children unattended...

It only takes a moment!

In my Inbox today... An urgent call to IT department

Call to IT Department Caller: Hi, our printer is not working. Customer Service: What is wrong with it? Caller: Mouse is jammed. Customer Service: Mouse? And how is it related to the printer? Caller: Mmmm.. Wait, I will send you a picture... .. .. ..

The power of prayer... or of a picture

In my Inbox today... a beautiful picture of man's best and most faithful friend... or in this case, the little boy's!


The dog's intensity and concentration shows more sincerity than one might see in many people! Ya just gotta' love him!

Of all the stupid junk we receive every day over the Internet... occasionally, we get something like this... which just has to be shared... right? :)