Retired accountant kept three turkeys in her front yard which disturbed the neighbours

Note: within this bizarre story you will find reference to vegan cats which qualifies the story to be published on this website! It is a story about bad neighbours. Crazy neighbours and we have a lot of them.

NEWS AND COMMENT: A retired accountant likes to keep three pet turkeys in her front yard of a townhouse. The lady is Noelle Obcarskas, 64. Her neighbours criticised her for keeping the turkeys in her front yard because of the smell that came from the yard and the noise. News media says that in response she verbally abused her neighbours.

Obcarskas in her yard. Image as per credit.

She posted a series of videos on YouTube of her argument with her neighbours in the village of Pulford, Cheshire, UK.

News media hint or state that she had a tendency to make irrational statements and criticisms of neighbours on her videos and in one video she is shown rambling about "vegan cats" while touring her garden. That's the connection to cats in this article!

She also had a tendency to insult one of our neighbours, John McKimmie, 40, and called him a "little fat bully with a skivvy wife".

She had a tendency to argue with her neighbours both left and right apparently. On one occasion one of her neighbours argued with her because he accused her of deliberately blocking his driveway with large pieces of foam.

My understanding of this dispute (and yours, now, I guess!) is that neighbours on both sides of this lady's home were arguing with her frequently and the root cause of the arguments was the fact that she was keeping three turkeys on her front yard. They disturbed the neighbours.

In other apparent videos she paraded her turkeys down the street while chatting to them. She goaded one neighbour Gareth Lloyd and videoed it at the same time. And on another occasion, she rowed with a neighbour about litter and called him a bully.

We are told that Obcarskas is a vegan which is perhaps why she was talking about vegan cats. Comment: my guess is that she was trying to insult the neighbours by claiming that they fed their cats a vegan diet.

On one occasion she called Mr McKimmie and Gareth Lloyd who had complained about her turkeys, 't***s', 'd***heads', and 'c***s' and added: 'They have left their irrelevant a*** wiping skivvy fishwives out of having anything to say being mere females... In their ego little d*** minds, they are not even ladies.'

Obcarskas walks with a walking stick. At the end of the day after many more examples like the above which I won't bother to repeat here, she was found guilty at the Magistrates Court of harassing her neighbours.

Obcarskas is university educated and she has a partner who lives in Germany apparently. She claimed that she was being targeted by her neighbours because of her Lithuanian heritage and she described her neighbours as "lying Brexiteers with possible pre-senile dementia".

She didn't bother to attend the trial claiming that she had Covid and couldn't. She remarked about that by saying: "It's all about toadyism and Brexit and a couple of people who are very unpleasant. I wish I had gone to the court with Covid because at least I would have had my chance to have my say. I no longer trust anybody. I had never had any issues with any neighbours until Brexit and that's when two little people who are very puffed up wanted a lot of attention.

Sources: Daily Mail and The Times.

Donors to animal charities vulnerable to illegal demands for money because of a hack into a database

NEWS and COMMENT: The Mail Online reports on a disturbing development which affects good people and high-profile people who donate to animal welfare charities. These people are now vulnerable to being conned by criminals making demands for money.

Hackers attacked a survey company which works with more than 40 charities. They stole surnames, home addresses, emails and the amount they donated to charities. The charities concerned include the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. It is said that the information regarding hundreds of thousands of donors has been stolen.

For example, Friends of the Earth said that data from 93,000 of their supporters had been taken. They are taking the matter very seriously.

Battersea Dogs and Cats said that they had contacted those affected "to offer support and advice".

The RSPCA which is half a million supporters has also contacted them in emails about the hack.

There are concerns that as the hack took place six weeks ago that there may have been subsequent demands on these people since then who might have unwittingly paid up. If they are regular contributors to animal welfare charities and if they have the funds to make regular donations, they might fall foul to these cons.

The hackers got into the computers of a subcontractor, Kokoro, of a Surrey-based company called About Loyalty on August 9, which carries out surveys on the charities' supporters.

It is believed that many hundreds of thousands of donors have been affected. A spokesperson for Kokoro said: 'We are confident the incident has now been contained and there is no ongoing risk to our systems. We have notified those whose data has been impacted.'

The breach is being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office which has the power to issue fines of up to 17.5 million or 4% of a company's annual turnover if a company or business fails to keep people's data safe.

Potentially and perhaps actually, some high-profile people are involved. For example, Sir Elton John is an ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Sir Brian May is another individual who is very closely involved with animal welfare charities. He's a wealthy man and it seems plausible that they may be targeted with phishing emails trying to con them out of money.

Phishing: the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Animal killer made €1 million in blood money

This is a highly unpleasant story so if you think you might be upset about it then please do not read on. However, I will not go in any detail. I think it needs to be reported on. I am indebted to a short report from The Times newspaper dated July 2, 2022.

They state that in Spain a man has been accused of killing hundreds of animals by draining them of their blood to sell to veterinarians across Europe. Quite horrendous. The man has been arrested in Madrid.

The police allege that the man - who has yet to be named and has been released on bail - killed as many as 500 animals.

Most of them are dogs and cats. The killing has taken place since 2006.

The suspect allegedly made more than €1 million (£860,000 or $1,042,910.00) from selling animal blood the police said.

I don't know, as it is unreported, but it seems to me that this criminal was collecting the blood of cats and dogs to sell to veterinarians working in Europe because with proper donor selection and appropriate compatibility screening pet blood transfusions are well-tolerated and they may increase the chances of a cat's survival.

Ironically, the blood was taken from a cat or dog which kills them in order to aid the survival of a cat who is ill at a veterinary clinic. The motive: money with a complete disregard for morality and the sentience of the animals concerned.

Elderly woman’s phone, ID & ATM card stolen while feeding community cats

NEWS AND COMMENT-SINGAPORE: It's been reported that an elderly woman's phone, ID and ATM card were stolen while she was feeding community cats in Meiling Street. I get the distinct impression that this is a street which is known for community cats and where people feed them regularly. There is a Facebook page called Cats of MeilingSt. Google Maps calls it 'Mei Ling St.', which looks more accurate.

Allegedly Lim feeding community cats on Mei Ling St.. Photo: Microsoft News.

There is a post on that Facebook page which is embedded into this page below. Please note though that this may disappear in time because I'm reliant upon the person who posted it on Facebook to keep it on Facebook. They can delete it at any time.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: Singapore: 250 cats fall from high rise apartments every year. Fifty percent die on impact.

It is pretty self-explanatory. The alleged theft took place in broad daylight. Microsoft News have the story on their website but they say they are reviewing it's accuracy. They are implying that the social media source might not be reliable. My distinct impression is that it is reliable as it comes from this group of volunteers who feed cats on this particular Street in Singapore.

ASSOCIATED: Almost 80% of Singapore residents are barred from having a cat companion

The lady concerned is Lim. She was feeding cats and her phone was in her bag in a trolley beside her. As a result, they recommend that people feeding cats should keep their phone with them at all times, together with any other important documentation and cards et cetera. The thief allegedly walked by and put his hand in her bag. Very easy to do when the owner of the handbag is distracted while feeding community cats.

Lawyer described his client as an 'animal lover' despite the fact that he drowned someone's cat

NEWS AND COMMENT-UK: I am becoming sick and tired of people describing themselves as animal lovers or in this instance a lawyer in court describing their client as an animal lover when they clearly aren't. In this instance a 70-year-old lawyer, Mr Hugo Schleiger, described his client Philip Tripp as an animal lover in trying to defend him in court where he was being tried for animal cruelty having trapped and drowned a domestic cat in a garbage bin filled with water! Animal lover??! He's an Australian. No surprise then.

Tripp and his parrot that was confiscated. Photo: Facebook.

He was convicted. Part of his punishment was to lose custody of his companion parrots of 23 years. He is going to appeal his sentence. I guess that he wants his parrot back. It is a shame that the hates cats so much but loves parrots.

His lawyer said "The paradox is that he's been an animal lover all of his life and he has a parrot, which is his companion". It is not a paradox to me. He clearly cannot be an animal lover. A true animal lover would not even contemplate drowning a domestic cat to death in a bin. The thought would not cross their minds. To think of it is disgusting and shocking. It is the act of a nasty person who might present to the world a veneer of niceness and of being an animal lover but who in truth is not.

And, as you can see, it irritates me when his advocate in court has the gall to call his client an animal lover in trying to mitigate the punishment handed down to him. His punishment included a nine-month intensive corrections order, 100 hours of community service and the removal of his parrot under a disqualification order. Apparently Mr Tripp was remorseful. He is described as having an illustrious career. He is now known as the man who drowned a cat.

It has transpired that he intended to trap and kill feral cats which were, he believed, threatening native wildlife. The cat that he killed was owned. The owner had put posters around town trying to find their cat companion. They should sue Mr Tripp in the civil courts for compensation without delay. Or threaten it initially and then formally seek a hefty compensation. I would recommend something up to £1000. That won't bring their cat back and it won't assuage the pain of the loss of their cat but it will be some sort of justice and closure for them.

It seems that Mr Tripp thought he was killing a feral cat and not someone's cat. In the UK that wouldn't have made any difference. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 killing a cat like this is a crime. But in Australia citizens have been indoctrinated by the government of NSW and other states that feral cats are the enemy and they pretty much hate them.

"In Telangana/Hyderabad there is one subcaste of people who eat cats"

In Telangana/Hyderabad there is one subcaste of people who eat cats. Worst thing is they steal pet cats from neighbourhood and eat them. I've lost 2 cats so far.

The tweet below is a response to the tweet about a domestic cat seeing off a cobra. I don't believe the cat is truly confronting the cobra. But the response is interesting in that it states that some people in Hyderabad which is in the mid-south of India steal domestic cats for food. 

Location of Hyderabad, India.

And the guy who made the tweet has lost 2 of his cats this way. It is cat meat in India. I have written about this before. Who would have a cat in Hyderabad if people steal and eat them? I guess you'd have to keep them inside all the time but that is probably impractical. A subcaste is a subdivision of a caste. A caste is one of the traditional social classes into which people are divided in a Hindu society.

Note: Tweets sometimes die. If that has happened, I am sorry but I can't control it.

In Telangana/Hyderabad there is one sub craste of people who eat cats.
Worst thing is they steal pet cats from neighbourhood and eat them. I've lost 2 cats so far.

— Lemur Kan Ki (@yeshurog) July 22, 2021

Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 allows for 5-year prison sentences for certain animal cruelty offences

I am republishing verbatim some of the explanatory notes of the above act which explains why it has come into existence. In summary the above act allows judges to apply much stiffer prison sentences to the crimes specified below in the bulleted table to a maximum of five years and an unlimited fine. The unlimited fine is unchanged.

 Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 allows for 5-year prison sentences for certain animal cruelty offences

The above UK act "increases the maximum penalty for specific offences related to animal welfare in England and Wales from 29 June 2021. It does so by extending the maximum penalty, specified under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, of six months and/or an unlimited fine to a penalty of five years and/or an unlimited fine. These offences therefore become triable either way, and may be heard in the Magistrates Court or the Crown Court.

And:

".....the 2006 Act set out a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine for the more serious 'prevention of harm' offences. There are five such offences under section 32(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006:

• causing unnecessary suffering (section 4, Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• carrying out a non-exempted mutilation (section 5, Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• docking the tail of a dog except where permitted (section 6(1) and 6(2), Animal Welfare Act 2006);
• administering a poison to an animal (section 7, Animal Welfare Act 2006); and
• involvement in an animal fight (section 8, Animal Welfare Act 2006). 

There were a number of cases related to these offences in which judges expressed a desire to impose a higher penalty than that which the 2006 Act provided for, prior to this Act passing. There was a particular desire to increase the penalties available in the case of crimes that relate to deliberate, calculating and sadistic behaviour."

The RSPCA has been lobbying for this change and they are understandable thrilled. They said:

"This is a landmark day for animals and animal welfare in England and Wales. For almost 200 years the RSPCA has been investigating animal cruelty and rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals. While we’ve seen vast changes in the way we keep animals during that time, as well as huge advances in legislation to better protect animal welfare, our sentences for animal abusers have long been letting our animals down. We’re absolutely thrilled that we’ve now reached this milestone moment and that courts will now have more flexibility to hand out sentences that better reflect the severity of the crimes they are dealing with and we hope the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act will act as a greater deterrent and help us cancel out cruelty once and for all."

The UK is a world leader with other countries such as Sweden on animal welfare laws protecting animals from abuse and cruelty. At the other end of the scale is China and some other Asian countries where there is either no animal welfare laws or poor enforcement. Without enforcement even the best laws are worse than useless. 

'Robbed your cat, come get it back': Video shows thugs snatching a 'terrified' cat and goading its owner

What appears to be a couple of feckless British louts in the UK stole an all-white domestic cat off the street and they appear to be blackmailing or teasing the owner in a video which I believe that they had posted online on social media. It is a theft by the look of it. They should be found and prosecuted.

The thug carries the cat around in a bad way by the shoulders while laughing and goading the owner. They say that they robbed the person's cat and they tease the owner to try and get their cat back. The cat's name is Biscuit. The location is Newbury town centre. The clip has been posted on Snapchat. 

It caught the attention of the locals. The owner of the cat is Sophie Lightowlers. She saw the video but at the time did not realise it was her cat. She spotted it on a Facebook page. As mentioned, the idiotic thug has grabbed the cat by the shoulders and is laughing and goading saying: "Robbed your cat, come get it back."

'Robbed your cat, come get it back': Video shows thugs snatching a 'terrified' cat and goading its owner 

Sophie said that when she first saw the video it made her feel physically sick. She was disgusted that somebody would treat any animal like that and then suddenly realised that it was her cat. Her sentiments turned from disgust to anger and rage.

She said that her Biscuit is a particularly friendly cat. Her temperament allows her to be abused like this because she is very accepting. The video was posted to Facebook by Sophie's friend, Lauren Cayleigh. She wants the men involved to hand themselves into the local authorities.

The men have not apologised or tried to produce a reason for their bad behaviour. The thugs have shown no remorse for their actions. Biscuit is back with her owner now. She was a bit traumatised but she's fully recovered. 

The incident has been reported to the police and the RSPCA. My understanding is that the Daily Mail has been in contact with the men in the video for a comment which is yet to be received. I don't know how they figured out who the men were. It must have been apparent by digging around on social media.

Plattsburgh man commits a crime for looking after feral cats

COMMENT: I think that the Plattsburgh city council have got this entirely wrong. Plattsburgh is in New York state as I recall. They have a local ordinance which states that if you feed cats on your property you are deemed to own those cats. But that seems irrelevant in this instance! That's because the guy was feeding feral cats under a TNR program on, I guess, public property. I'm also told that the city code states that feeding feral cats is a violation level offence whatever that means. Perhaps he was feeding them on his property but we are not told that.

 Plattsburgh man commits a crime for looking after feral cats. Pic in public domain. Sorry for the poor image quality.

The upshot is that this guy, Mike Clowney, has been told to appear before the local court because he's been feeding feral cats as part of a TNR program. He's been doing it for more than a decade. He attends the cats twice a day every day. He is a dedicated volunteer providing a good service to the community I would argue.

He said that they would have to put him in prison if they want to stop him helping the feral cats within his community.

As reported on Yahoo News the picture is highly unclear. The reporting is bad in my opinion because I just don't know what law is applicable in this instance. Under what law is this man being charged with a crime? I would doubt that there is any law applicable in Plattsburgh which gives the city the authority to punish this man for helping out in a TNR program. I would expect the case to be dropped for that reason. This appears to be a mistake by the authorities.

He wasn't arrested but has been asked to attend court as mentioned. Apparently, his violation of the local ordinance comes under the Pigeons and Other Wild Animals section of the City Code. Other volunteers engaged in TNR programs are worried that the language of the ordinance is going to affect them. They think that it may deem them to be owners of the feral cats that they look after.

The law was not intended to impinge upon the activities of TNR programs. It's a ridiculous mistake and I'm sure adjustments will be made. Mike Clowney said that TNR programs really work and that this local law might slow TNR work. He said that it will discourage people from helping. He is not discouraged however. But other people will be. He spent years finding new homes for feral kittens. He's doing council work! He's contributing to the amenity of the community in which he lives. To punish him for that is mindless.

Brighton Cat Killer: harrowing accounts by cat owners of their stabbed cats

The Brighton Cat Killer. Guilty as charged. Steve Bouquet.

On two other pages I have written about Steve Bouquet who is the alleged Brighton Cat Killer currently on trial for the serial "murders" of 9 domestic cats in and around Brighton and for causing serious injury to 7 more. You can read about the story by clicking this link. His basic modus operandi was to walk down streets at night, befriend domestic cats and then stab them violently. He was caught on CCTV which led to his arrest. They also found the weapon he used to allegedly kill the cats and on the blade of the weapon was feline DNA. It was a Leatherman tool.

One of the cats allegedly stabbed by Bouquet. I don't have her name. The news media got it wrong so I have deleted the name. Photo: The Sun.

In this post I would like briefly to look at the story from the perspective of the cats' owners. It's remarkable that the law in the UK still regards these cats as chattels i.e. inanimate possessions and not sentient beings because although the cats were killed and suffered the owners suffered too.

The Times reports that Bouquet 'slashed and stabbed seven cats in one month'. These are the words of the prosecutor at a hearing at Chichester Crown Court.

Carolyn Green, found her short-haired tabby cat Tommy lying on her doorstep at 6:15 pm when a neighbour told her that she thought Tommy had been hit by a car. He had been let out 'a few minutes earlier'. He was severely injured. She picked him up and noticed blood on her T-shirt. She rushed him to the veterinarian who reported that he had been stabbed. Green was shocked to learn that Tommy had suffered a 4 cm cut. He died despite the veterinarian's best efforts.

Penny Vessey told the court that her black-and-white cat Rigby was very friendly and that she liked to lie outside in public places so that people would pet her. On Halloween night in 2018 allegedly Steve Bouquet stabbed him. The area where she lived had been busy with trick or treaters and she found Rigby the next morning making a mewing sound but not acting like herself.

She recovered from her injuries but it appears that she was psychologically damaged because it took a long time for her to start interacting with people again.

Steve Bouquet. Photo: Eddie Mitchell.

Tina Randall, a former veterinary assistant, described, in court, through her statement, that she discovered her 11-year-old cat Gideon in November 2018 after he had been severely injured. She said that he was fading and she picked him up which caused blood to spurt out of him. She knew immediately that it was a stab wound. With great good fortune, Gideon eventually recovered from a three-quarter inch wound. The veterinary surgeon's bill came to more than £1600.

I had read that Steve Bouquet refused to attend his trial but since then I am receiving conflicting views on that. He did go to court at a pre-trial review and there were lots of protesters nearby hissing and booing at him. He was protected by plain clothes police officers I am told. He is accused of killing 9 domestic cats and severely injuring 7. His charge is criminal damage in line with the law. If convicted the max. sentence will be 10 years in jail. The criminal damage is valued at £32k.

About 12 months the police were completely nonplussed and a at complete loss as to the perpetrator. As mentioned, CCTV caught him. The camera was attached to the home of Mr Levy whose cat, Hannah (14 months old), was also stabbed to death allegedly by this man. She was the first to die. Both he and a neighbour whose cat, Hendrix, was also stabbed and died studied the video from the security camera and notified the police. Bouquet had come back because he had seen the security camera and wanted to check it out apparently. That was his undoing.

Singaporeans conspired to abandon 16 cats on the street

NEWS AND VIEWS: Nur Hajjar Osman, a 35-year-old woman, was no longer able to care for her 16 cats. She decided to get rid of them by simply abandoning them on the street. She conspired to do this with what appears to be a friend whose name is Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli, aged 33.

 Singaporeans conspired to abandon 16 cats on the street. One of the captured cats.
Photo: Sayang Our Singapore's Community Cats/Facebook

On 28 February 2019 Nur Hajjar Osman asked Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli to get rid of the cats. On 1 March 2019 he arrived at her flat in Punggol and they brought the 16 cats down in five cages. They loaded them onto a lorry which he had borrowed. They drove around and decided to release the cats in the vicinity of 222A Sumang Lane at around 3 AM.

Members of the public noticed what was going on and apparently reported it. The cats were found and rescued. They were successfully prosecuted and Nur Hajjar Osman was fined $4000 on 10th March. Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli was also fined $4000. They were told by the judge that they had shown a "totally unacceptable disregard" of their duty towards the animals. They were reminded that "pets are for life".

Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli couldn't or wouldn't pay the fine and decided to take his punishment in jail. He was sentenced to a 10 day jail term. Although the maximum sentence for abandoning a companion animal in Singapore is up to a year in jail and a fine of USD10,000 or both on a first offence.

Source: Yahoo News Singapore.

Man confesses to feeding human flesh to stray cats outside his window

NEWS AND COMMENT: A man living in Kazakhstan (first name: Arman, 33) has admitted to police when in custody to feeding the flesh of his neighbour, Daniyar, 37, to stray cats outside his window. The good point is that he likes cats! Sorry that's too flippant.

The bad point is that he decided with his neighbour to have a drinking session at his apartment. They bought several litre bottles of vodka and began to drain them of their contents. Unsurprisingly it started off as a nice pleasant drinking session albeit heavy but deteriorated into an argument which further deteriorated into violence and to the point where Arman stabbed Daniyar to death with a kitchen knife.

 Man confesses to feeding human flesh to stray cats outside his window. Blood on
window frame. Pic: Astana TV.

Not satisfied with that act and being concerned about the stray cats outside his apartment window he cut off bits of flesh from Daniyar and fed the stray cats by throwing the flesh through the window to the cats outside.

The reason why he fed the cats with bits of Daniyar is because he wanted to get rid of the evidence. It would have been a very slow, tortuously slow process and impractical to put it mildly. I can't help being slightly amused by this although that is a horrible thing to do because I'm genuinely sympathetic towards Daniyar's family who must be terribly distraught.

 Man confesses to feeding human flesh to stray cats outside his window. The apartment block.
Image: Astana TV.

But the behaviour of these two men and the general picture that the story draws in my mind reminds me of a B-movie horror flick. Maybe they'll make one and start it off by saying that it is based upon a true story. Arman lived in Karaganda apparently.

I wondered whether the cats would accept raw human flesh as a meal. I expect that they did because it looks bloody cold at this time of year in Kazakhstan and I also expect that they were starving. As domestic and stray cats are obligate carnivores it would have been a reasonable diet!