Scuzzbucket of the Week

I see red every time I hear about animal abuse. But this one takes the cake.

Mom and kids beat kittens with baseball bat

At 8 weeks old, a small black and white kitten named Dexter is lucky to be alive after his owner and her two young sons took him to a neighborhood park and beat him and another kitten with an aluminum bat. Dexter is clinging to life, but his brother died as a result of his injuries.

Four children at a park in Brooksville, Florida watched in horror last Friday evening when they saw 24-year-old Wilana Joenel Frazier and her two sons -- one 8 years old and the other 5 -- torture the two small kittens.



Demand justice for the tortured kittens. Here's a site where you can sign a petition aimed at the Hernando County State Attorney .


Frazier hit the kittens with a baseball bat and encouraged her children to kick the animals and throw them against a tree. Then they placed the kittens on a swing. When one of the animals died, the boys put him in a trash can and covered him with water.

By the time Linda Christian, a Hernando County Animal Services officer, arrived on the scene little Dexter had been rescued and wrapped in a white T-shirt by one of the boys who witnessed the event. Blood was running from the kitten's nose and mouth. Soon he began to have seizures from the trauma to his brain.

When Christian touched the kitten, he began to convulse. Christian told the St. Petersburg Times, "I thought I was going to lose him at that point. It was very upsetting."

Christian rushed Dexter to the Pet Luv Nonprofit Spay and Neuter Clinic and miraculously the small ball of fur has survived the first few critical days. Employees at the clinic care for him during the day and a veterinary technician has been taking him home each night.

Dexter is able to keep his medication down, is eating from a feeding tube and has started to walk a little on his own. But veterinarians are still very concerned about potential damage to Dexter's brain and are not sure if he will ultimately succumb to his injuries.

Rick Silvani, president of Pet Luv said, "All animals have a right to life, but a helpless, defenseless kitten... You don't know what to say. It's just incomprehensible." The group has agreed to cover the costs of Dexter's medical care.

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office questioned Frazier, but she denied being involved and said her children were not part of the beating either. However authorities charged Frazier on two counts of cruelty to animals and two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She is out of jail on $3,500 bail.