Cop Shoots Family Cat, Gets Off With A Slap On The Wrist

In yet another egregious example of police killing our pets, a police department out of Pennsylvania is in a total Public Relations mode over the killing of a small cat. Yes I’m not kidding a cop in north Catasauqua police department responded to a call of a possibly injured cat in a residents yard.  This incident was reported back in January of this year by WFMZ news:

Members of the community protested because they say the cat wasn’t sick or injured, he just slipped out of the house and when a neighbor called police to help get the cat to his rightful owner, they said the officer shot him. “Justice for Sugar” is the name of this Facebook page and what a packed house at the North Catasaqua council meeting is demanding, after they say Tom Newhart’s cat was shot and killed by a police officer in the borough. Protesters stood outside holding signs, while others inside voiced their opinions at the borough’s council meeting Monday night. They are urging officials to fire officer Leighton Pursell and they want the chief of North Catasauqua’s Police Department to step down. District Attorney John Morganelli has opened an investigation.

Open an investigation is exactly what he did. Putting off the public and the family till today. Strangely a mere week after he was up for election for the Attorney General of Pennsylvania (he did not get elected thankfully). Dispite an incredible outcry from the public and even more than doubling the amount of signatures needed to get an official response (100,000 needed, they got 244000) we all sat and waited for months.

Well finally today he announced there would be no charges for the officer. He instead will receive a citation the equivalent to a jaywalking ticket for not getting 2 people to concur with his assessment of killing the cat being necessary. He will not lose his job or even face probation for opening fire on a defenseless cat in neighborhood, a few feet from houses. I started the video above after the District Attorney gets to the point and starts blaming the victim. If you wish to see the whole thing feel free to rewind it to the beginning. I want you to pay close attenion how he turns everything on the victim and the “outside factors” to take all blame away from the officer.  The Official Justice For Sugar page has made a full statement HERE. Here is a quote from the full response:

First, the stories of those involved changed significantly after the investigation started and the case gained a lot of attention. When the neighbor who called the police initially spoke with Mr. Newhart and the local news, he stated that Sugar did not appear injured. He said Sugar never made any aggressive movements towards anybody. He never said that he saw a blood trail, or that Sugar was unable to walk, or that she appeared to be in pain, as he later told the investigator and as DA Morganelli said at the press conference. His account of the incident was drastically different when he later spoke with police. One has to wonder why it changed so much, and why it changed to be so similar to Officer Pursell’s version, and what the real story is. It should also be noted that, despite mentioning injuries on more than one occasion, DA Morganelli again admitted that the veterinary examination did not find any significant injuries to Sugar, other than a gunshot wound.

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This is it spelled out for you from beginning to end. This is how they get cops off. They put the victim on trial. The press conference was a long winded way at blaming the victim and making excuses for the cop. Despite the public doing everything right from day one this is the outcome.

I urge you all to not let this go unchecked. We the people are supposed to be in charge. We do not want this guy on our streets despite the D.A. defending him. The officer has already gotten a backup job in another town in anticipation of being let go.  He is currently employed as a cop in 2 towns.

COPLAY POLICE DEPARTMENT (610) 262-2288

North Catasauqua Police Department (610) 264-0577

Cop Shoots Family Cat, Gets Off With A Slap On The Wrist is a post from Cop Block – Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights