By Doug Draper
Anyone with a heart for innocent beings would have to view it as act that was despicable and disturbing.
Cinamon, recovering in a St. Catharines animal hospital. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln County Humane Society
Despicable that someone would shoot a defenseless cat with arrows from a crossbow four times. And disturbing to think that whatever sick person or persons committed this depraved act is still at large and may very well focus their madness on another cat or dog or a person next time.
“I am very disturbed by this,” Kevin Strooband, executive director of the Niagara, Ontario-based Lincoln County Humane Society said during a call Niagara At Large made to him this August 27. “There is no excuse for shooting an animal of this nature and to shoot her four times? You have to have a pretty twisted mind.”
The LCHS and Niagara Regional Police are apparently still following some leads in an effort to apprehend whoever committed this act of cruelty sometime this mid-July in Thorold South to a female cat Humane Society staff came to call Cinamon as she continues to recover at an animal hospital in neighbouring St. Catharines.
Now doing better and apparently greeting people coming in to the animal hospital, Cinamon was pregnant when she was shot and all the kittens had to be aborted during surgery on her wounds. Strooband said one of the kittens probably saved its mother’s life since an arrow came to rest in the kitten in the womb before passing on to a vital organ.
Cinamon pulling through her horrific ordeal at animal hospital
In recent years, penalties for animal abuse have been made tougher in Ontario and acts of this nature could be subject to fines of up to $60,000 and/or up to two years in jail, and a life-long ban on owning animals.
Now I know that there are some people out there who may be reading this and saying; ‘It’s too bad what happened to this cat but it’s only a cat and we should be more concerned about people.
For anyone who feels this way, please consider this. There are now numerous studies conducted by law enforcement agencies, including the FBI in the United States, showing that people who have committed violent acts toward other people also had a history of abusing animals. Notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy got their early start on dogs and cats.
Let’s put it another way. How would you like it if you found out that your sister or daughter or granddaughter, or some other young woman you care about started dating the guy (and I am assuming it was a guy firing crossbow) who performed this sort of violence on a dog or a cat? Would you feel she was in safe hands with a character like that?
That’s why the person or persons who committed this act have to be caught before they go on and do something equally as sick or worse to another animal or a person.
If you have any information on who in the Thorold South area may have committed this crime please do us all a favour and call the Lincoln County Humane Society at 905-682-0767 or the Niagara Regional Police.
(Niagara At Large welcomes comments to our posts from people who are willing to share their first and last name with their views. Submit any comment you may have on this post below.)
Niagara At Large 
Help to spread the word —- post it on your Facebook account. Let’s nail this sick scum. And please help the organizations such as Lincoln County Humane Society; The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies; and The Ontario SPCA, who tirelessly fight for animal welfare. We need tougher animal cruelty laws both provincially and federally!!! Please make your voice heard to your local MPP and MP.
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“Shocking”, “twisted mind” What is shocking and twisted is that the LCHS refuse to pick up feral cats, strays and also refuse to take in owner surrenders for euthanasia. What does Mr. Strooband et al think is going to happen to these cats. “gives the owners time to remedy the situation themselves or change their minds”. Not likely. What it does do it cast into the streets more cats that quite likely will reproduce thus generating even more ferals. The best that be hoped for is that they are mowed down by a vehicle and killed quickly rather than die a long lingering death by emaciation and dehydration or or they end up as target practice for a “twisted mind” with a cross bow or a pack of matches and a firecracker. For all of their huffing and puffing in opposition to Nathan Winograd and his No Kill Equation, it is interesting that the Board of Directors, Kevin Stroobvand, Joe Kushner and the OSPCA who all spew venom at No Kill actually agree on this issue. For those of us that truly care about animals and their welfare, not so much.
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There is someone out there who know who this person is. Please turn them in. You really will feel good that you did.
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I hope everyone who is outraged about the abuse and torture of this lovely cat will both speak up and show up to oppose deer hunting by bow and arrow that is currently being planned by the MNR for Short Hills Park again this fall/winter. Please spend 4 minutes to view the Shorthills Wildlife Alliance video about last year’s hunt at
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It is only those who are ignorant or those who condone torture and murder of any species who are not appalled at animal cruelty. Anyone acquainted with me knows where I stand on this issue. I question candidates at every level of government prior to any election what their views are about much more extreme punishments for animal abusers. A person running for our local town council who thought he knew me was dumb enough to answer one of my queries with “but it’s only a ….” I won’t mention which non-human critter it was but I did tell that candidate to count on me telling everyone I knew about his opinion and not to count on anyone I knew voting for him. He was not elected. If this kind of lobbying can be done at the municipal level we need to be focussed on lobbying every level of government at every election. Yes, it was long ago established that this kind of cruel behavior definitely escalates. The scumbag that is cruel to small creatures loses their thrill and looks for larger creatures to target. Anyone who does not believe that the penalty for being that kind of cruel scumbag does not deserve the same penalty no matter whether the victim is human or non-human is an idiot. Remember that the next victim can be someone you love. The escalation usually goes from small creature to child and then to adult. Call me a radical but I cannot feel compassion for someone who has none.
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I have posted this to my facebook page … and I hope many others do so as well. If you don’t have facebook, you can at least send an email to everyone you know giving them the link to the article. The sickos that injure and torture animals must be caught!
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something needs to be done!!! The person who lives next door to me thinks it’s funny to throw rocks at the strays as well as my family cat. I tossed rocks back at him and it wasnt funny….this guy owns a dog and beats him all the time. The dog is left all day in the house and he is turning into a mean dog, this dog has bit 4 kids 3 of them live with the dog. I need help but everyone on my street turns their back n pretends not to c this….I have called oscpa they spoke with this house but it is still continuing to go on.
A Note from NAL publisher Doug Draper to Jessica Lacasse – If what you are saying about the abuse of the dog is true and the local OSCPA will not address it, I would consider going to your local provincial member of parliament and reporting this. And while you are at it, ask the MPP for the contact information for the Ontario cabinet minister responsible for overseeing humane societies and OSPCAs across the province, and file a complaint to him or her about the alleged abuse and the failure of the OSPCA to respond to it.
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Jessica, If you live in St Catharines, Thorold or Grimsby contact Joe Kushner as he is the Council Representative to the Lincoln County Humane Society. His email is kushner@brocku.ca. The MPP for St Catharines at present is Jim Bradley, his email is jbradley.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org If you are in Welland contact the Mayor and the MPP. It is your tax dollar. Help this dog!
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