| Author |
Message |
Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 9:11 am 
I was wondering why the cat was out there too Seamonkey.
I bet he was keeping an eye on his kid or something, or he wouldn't have been hanging around on the sled ride hill.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 10:53 am
I won't look at the vid. Was the cat injured, killed? (worried frown)
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 10:55 am
It was kinda of knocked out of the way.
He didn't see it coming.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 12:06 pm
I don't think there was any long-term damage to the cat.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 12:30 pm
Thank heavens!
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 1:44 pm
I guess I see things a little bit different, although I think as a grown man (at least grown enough to be married and facing fatherhood) he should have used better judgment. I think he thought the cat would move before he got there. I also don't think he ever hit the cat - I think the cat sprung out of the way. I think this because it is absolutely something my cat would do - get right in the pathway of whatever was going on and sit there just daring us to step on him or her. I can't tell you how many times I have tripped on my cat because it runs down the stairs in front of me and then stops right on the step where I am about to step, or right in front of me in a hallway or walkway around my house. Should he have aimed at the cat? No. Do I think he thought the cat would move? Yes. Because that's what cats do.
You would think my animals are horribly abused. Just saying.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 2:17 pm
I re-watched.
The cat was looking the other way.
The impact is blocked out, but I think the cat got hit.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 2:23 pm
I doubt that the cat was hurt at all. I also think he thought it would move. It was a mean thing to do and it sets a very poor example but I think it's a stretch to call it animal cruelty.
It kind of reminds me of a little kid chasing pigeons. Fun for the little kid, the parents are amused but not so much fun for the pigeons.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 3:05 pm
The parents know the kids cannot catch the pigeons.
A grown man should have shown better sense.
He may not have aimed for the cat but he certainly knew it was in his path.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 3:25 pm
Well I bet he thought he wouldn't hit the cat. Anyway, I agree that he should have shown better sense. I don't like the Duggars much anyway and I'm not defending his actions. At the same time, I think there are much more important examples of animal cruelty for people to get upset over than this.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 3:46 pm
I think each act of treating an animal carelessly is important.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 4:52 pm
Jimmer, of course there are worse examples, but these people bill themselves as "good" and their overriding agenda is to procreate, which clearly means being parents, and thus they are role models to those children. Add to that that they are on TV and social media, where he gleefully posted this looping clip so you could see him hitting the cat over and over. Personally I don't buy that he cared if he hit the cat but I know if I accidentally did that I sure as heck would be feeling terrible and I would not be bragging about it on social media. All he seemed to care about was just how clever he was to use a cookie tin, or whatever he used.
I cannot believe there weren't many other clips of "the Duggars having FUN in the snow" that they could have chosen.
But with all those little ones watching in person, they might think it was cool to aim a larger item at an innocent animal.
Clearly I'm an animal advocate, but I agree that animals should be mistreated in any way.
I don't think it is okay just because (maybe) there was no physical damage to the cat.. but it certainly isn't going to trust humans as much in the future, which is pretty sad. Cats have a hard enough time if they end up in shelters without someone giving them reasons to be fearful.
Cats on stairs, yeah that is something to watch out for and can be dangerous and they need to learn not to do that (lol. well we have to learn to expect it) BUT we don't have alternate routes on the stairs, this guy clearly had a choice of where to aim his sled and body. Even if it was a BIG cat and he was a very small man, he'd probably be 10 times the weight.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 6:11 pm
Yes it was the most horrendous example of animal abuse I've ever heard of. He is a total ass for doing it. Satisfied?
No I don't think it was okay. I can't be any clearer than that. But I guess for some people the world is black and white and right and wrong and everything is the ultimate bad or good.
I am not defending this man. I don't even like these people. Their views about life are vastly different than mine.
I just think that people might help animals more by putting their energy elsewhere and focussing on horrible abuse and doing something about that!
Why do people let their cats wander around and then grieve when they die? I don't know why? You tell me.
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 8:04 pm
I brought the video her as just another example that these people are not what TLC portrays them to be.
He did aim the sled right at the cat.
The intention was certainly to frighten the cat.
The laughs spoke volumes.
TLC is laughing all the way to the bank.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 9:15 pm
Re your last question, Jimmer.. indeed.. it makes me crazy.. and if that cat wasn't one of their cats, then shame on the owner for putting it at risk, though you usually expect the risks to be from vehicles, predator animals like coyotes and raccoons and diseases passed from other animals or parasites, not humans, but they are often targeted.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, March 05, 2015 - 11:49 pm
I agree that it's sad. Domestic cats simply don't do well outdoors because the risks for them are so much greater from many dangers (not to mention someone stupid or mean enough to deliberately aim at them).
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Misspoufy
Member
09-30-2004
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 7:32 am
I can't believe that such a HUGE deal is being made of out this incident. First of all, it was not a sled nor was it a piece of metal...it was a baking pan which clearly was underneath Derrick Dillard and could not have hit the cat. I do not condone being deliberately cruel to any animal but I don't believe they aimed directly for the cat and they said, "move cat". When he was pushed, if you watch the video he was pushed away from the cat but the snow took him towards it instead. The cat jumps out of the way on its own and was never hit.
If someone doesn't like the Duggars, fine. I don't have a problem with someone not liking them. I don't see much reason to vilify them ad nauseum and pick and look for things to crucify them for because someone doesn't agree with the way they choose to live their lives. It bothers me more than our society cares more about a barn cat than they do about the hundreds of babies killed by abortion each day or the thousands of people who lose their homes to foreclosure every day, or how about those who are starving each day.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 7:41 am
I can't believe that such a HUGE deal is being made of out this incident.
That's how social media works today. It's like a feeding frenzy. Relatively small mistakes that used to go generally unnoticed can end up destroying people's lives.
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Just because a person cares about animals doesn't mean that they don't care about other important issues as well.
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Dogdoc
Member
09-29-2001
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 8:19 am
From the camera angle, it is not possible to say for sure if the cat escaped by jumping or was hit and then ran.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 8:53 am
Misspoufy, I clearly don't like the Duggars, AND I hate animal cruelty, completely unrelated to the Duggars. In this case, it was the Duggars who chose to broadcast what they labeled as Duggars having fun, while targeting an animal.
They make money from being on tv and very public, and thus are there for comment. Hardly rises to the level of crucifixion.
I think the person on the baking pan was aimed at the cat, and the key issue isn't if he hit the cat, but that he intended to hit or scare the cat, and found this act to be so amusing that he broadcast it to the world, and this was pushed to many sites. No one had to go looking for anything.
These people are not victims. Blame the snow, blame the cat for lack of vocabulary, he is supposedly an adult.
While their women are busy building numbers, their men are entering politics with the intent of taking away the rights of other people. It isn't just about a cat.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 9:10 am
I agree that the Duggars are celebrities who make a living by having their personal lives known to the public. They put this out there. It's very different from a non-celebrity who makes a bad comment while tweeting and it goes viral.
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Friday, March 06, 2015 - 10:19 am
Sea, you are so eloquent. I wish could be at my side when I need a well spoken, intelligent person to help me speak. ;)
The Duggars don't appear as saintly when TLC isn't doing the editing.
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Starr
Member
07-09-2005
| Sunday, March 08, 2015 - 9:47 am
I'm in the minority here, too. I see it very different than most of you. I clearly see (hear) that the kids are laughing at Ben, the way he falls onto his belly while pushing. He's being silly and the reaction is laughter. I also don't see how Derek could steer his baking pan. Could they have yelled and shooed the cat away? Maybe. Could they have walked down and moved the cat? Yes. Could they have moved their sled 10' to the side? Of course. Hindsight is almost always 20/20. We all do dumb things, even the Duggars.
As for the cat being 'abused' because it's out in the cold, I can tell you my cat enjoys being in the snow. We live in Colorado, he's out in the cold and snow often. He's also very social - if they're was a place where all the people were having fun, that's right where he'd be!
Go ahead and jump all over me and my opinion because it's different than the masses...
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Starr
Member
07-09-2005
| Sunday, March 08, 2015 - 9:58 am
Someone shot a dog twice, then tied it to railroad tracks earlier this week in Florida. Now THAT is animal abuse. (BTW, police found it in time and stopped the on-coming train. The dog had emergency surgery and a leg amputated, but thank god it's alive)
Just wanted to share that before people tell me I don't care about animal rights, etc...
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Mamabatsy
Member
08-05-2005
| Sunday, March 08, 2015 - 9:59 am
Indoor/outdoor cats have a life expectancy of 2 years. Indoor only cats can live 20 years.
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