(no subject)
A vishus kitten (oh noes!!!!1) attacked this guy so he kicked it like a football. It's only cuz the feral cats kept using his lawn as a litterbox. Really. He's not a bad person. At all.
Death of girl's kitten puts neighbor in `bizarre' case
Kicking of animal detailed at man's trial
By Brendan McCarthy
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 23, 2006
William Buske's legal troubles started in August when he kicked Orangie, a neighbor's 9-week-old kitten.
Buske, 34, booted the animal so hard that it sailed about 15 feet before it struck the pavement at a Des Plaines mobile home park, witnesses said.
The details of Orangie's death were laid out Wednesday at the Rolling Meadows courthouse in an unusual trial in which the defendant in an animal-abuse case requested a jury.
"It's a truly bizarre case," Cook County Public Defender Joseph Gump said in his opening statement. "This [mobile home park] was inundated with feral cats. It's also inundated with stray cats. ... It destroyed the quality of life Mr. Buske had come to expect in owning a home."
If found guilty of a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty, Buske could be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in jail. The jury is likely to begin deliberating Thursday.
In a soft, congenial tone reminiscent of the late Mr. Rogers, Michael Andre, an assistant state's attorney, underscored the affinity many people feel for kittens.
"Pets are members of your family," he said. "Sometimes you give them names like Bob or Dave. ... We love them. Children particularly adore them."
Andre detailed what he said was a cruel, barbaric killing.
Buske "picked up a harmless 9-week-old kitten, spiked it on the ground and kicked it down the road," he said. "He kicked it like a football."
Buske, a part-time construction worker, said he moved into the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Des Plaines about two years ago. While working on his home, he grew tired of the cats that urinated on his small lawn, tore up the underside of his trailer and generally created an unbearable stench, Gump said.
Buske finally had enough, Gump said. At one point in the mobile home park, he lived next door to a cat-hoarder, a woman cited for having more than 30 cats and whose house had to be fumigated, Gump said. Buske also dealt daily with several other strays that roamed his property, the court was told.
Both the prosecution and the defense agree that on the night of Aug. 23, the orange and white tiger-striped kitten approached Buske while he was painting his porch.
Buske tried to shoo the animal away.
When the kitten continued to linger, Buske slammed it to the ground, then kicked it, Andre said.
Buske's lawyer said that when Buske picked up Orangie, the kitten scratched him and he reacted "out of instinct" by kicking it.
"The cat clawed him," Gump said. "It was like pins going into his stomach. ... He never intended to hurt the cat."
Buske was jailed for two months after the incident and was released in October after posting $20,000 bail.
The kitten's owner, Cheyenne Reyna, 14, identified Orangie in two photos taken at the scene.
"I walked up to him and asked him why he killed my cat," Reyna said. "He said the cat should have never been on his property."
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bmccarthy@tribune.com
Death of girl's kitten puts neighbor in `bizarre' case
Kicking of animal detailed at man's trial
By Brendan McCarthy
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 23, 2006
William Buske's legal troubles started in August when he kicked Orangie, a neighbor's 9-week-old kitten.
Buske, 34, booted the animal so hard that it sailed about 15 feet before it struck the pavement at a Des Plaines mobile home park, witnesses said.
The details of Orangie's death were laid out Wednesday at the Rolling Meadows courthouse in an unusual trial in which the defendant in an animal-abuse case requested a jury.
"It's a truly bizarre case," Cook County Public Defender Joseph Gump said in his opening statement. "This [mobile home park] was inundated with feral cats. It's also inundated with stray cats. ... It destroyed the quality of life Mr. Buske had come to expect in owning a home."
If found guilty of a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty, Buske could be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in jail. The jury is likely to begin deliberating Thursday.
In a soft, congenial tone reminiscent of the late Mr. Rogers, Michael Andre, an assistant state's attorney, underscored the affinity many people feel for kittens.
"Pets are members of your family," he said. "Sometimes you give them names like Bob or Dave. ... We love them. Children particularly adore them."
Andre detailed what he said was a cruel, barbaric killing.
Buske "picked up a harmless 9-week-old kitten, spiked it on the ground and kicked it down the road," he said. "He kicked it like a football."
Buske, a part-time construction worker, said he moved into the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Des Plaines about two years ago. While working on his home, he grew tired of the cats that urinated on his small lawn, tore up the underside of his trailer and generally created an unbearable stench, Gump said.
Buske finally had enough, Gump said. At one point in the mobile home park, he lived next door to a cat-hoarder, a woman cited for having more than 30 cats and whose house had to be fumigated, Gump said. Buske also dealt daily with several other strays that roamed his property, the court was told.
Both the prosecution and the defense agree that on the night of Aug. 23, the orange and white tiger-striped kitten approached Buske while he was painting his porch.
Buske tried to shoo the animal away.
When the kitten continued to linger, Buske slammed it to the ground, then kicked it, Andre said.
Buske's lawyer said that when Buske picked up Orangie, the kitten scratched him and he reacted "out of instinct" by kicking it.
"The cat clawed him," Gump said. "It was like pins going into his stomach. ... He never intended to hurt the cat."
Buske was jailed for two months after the incident and was released in October after posting $20,000 bail.
The kitten's owner, Cheyenne Reyna, 14, identified Orangie in two photos taken at the scene.
"I walked up to him and asked him why he killed my cat," Reyna said. "He said the cat should have never been on his property."
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bmccarthy@tribune.com