Cop rebuked for taking kitten from alleged drug user
A Toronto- area police officer will face a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for taking an apparently neglected kitten away from its owner, who was allegedly in the throes of a drug binge.
In January, Durham Regional Police Const. Beth Richardson responded to a 911 call to check on a woman in Oshawa who had been using drugs for several days.
At the woman’s house, Richardson found a kitten “cowering under a table.” It was thin, smelled “foul” and didn’t appear to have any food, Richardson’s lawyer Joseph Markson said.
So the officer, allergic to cats, paid out of pocket for a veterinary clinician to examine the kitten and arranged for her friend to care for it until the local humane society reopened the next day, Markson said.
But by taking the cat without the owner’s knowledge or consent, Richardson allegedly committed “discreditable conduct,” according to the official notice that ordered Richardson to attend the disciplinary hearing, which was signed by Durham Police Chief Paul Martin.
“This is the most ridiculous case I have ever encountered,” Markson said Monday.
Hours after Richardson took the cat, the alleged drug user’s boyfriend called police, saying the kitten had been stolen and demanding its return. “The kitten was returned to the owner, who opted not to lay criminal charges,” the notice of hearing read.
According to the allegations, Richardson didn’t notify her superiors, other officers or the pet owner that she was removing the kitten.
Markson, however, said the pet owner was “out of control” after using crystal meth for several days, and “wasn’t in the position to consent” to the cat being taken.
“Having a conversation with somebody who’s high on crystal meth isn’t a conversation,” Markson said.
Markson also said Richardson told other officers at the scene that she was rescuing the kitten.
MOST RIDICULOUS CASE I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED.