ON THE MEND
Kitten set on fire at Craven
A man is being investigated for animal cruelty after a kitten was lit on fire at the Craven Country Jamboree on Saturday.
According to TM’z Veterinary Clinic in Lumsden, RCMP brought in the female kitten after “drunken individuals were drenching it in alcohol and then lighting it on fire.”
RCMP Insp. Ted Munro couldn’t divulge details, as the investigation is ongoing.
Charges have not yet been laid, but the man was evicted from the festival site.
“This is a very isolated incident; 99.9 per cent of the people are out here to have fun and enjoy the events, law abiding. It’s a one-off,” said Munro.
The kitten, whom the vet has named Jamboree, is “stable and comfortable,” according to TM’z Facebook page.
Kim Blevins, the jamboree’s marketing director, was “pretty shocked” and “saddened too that somebody would do something like that to a small animal.”
She said RCMP and festival security responded quickly.
“We’re appalled,” said Blevins. “This is not something that we condone, and we would hope that our fans would behave in a different manner.
“I just think it’s some idiot that made a bad decision — a really bad decision — and hopefully he’ll pay for it.”
Blevins said they’ll consider a lifetime ban on the offender.
But news of the kitten’s abuse has sparked outrage, with social media conversation turning to the debauched behaviour that occurs at the jamboree.
“It frustrates me that people only want to see one side of this event,” Blevins said in defence of the festival.
“I know that tends to be the reputation of this festival and if that was the case that there was a ton of violence and just crazy people out here, then why would anyone bring their children? We see babies out here; we see small children out here; we see families enjoying this festival together.
“There’s a small percentage of people that yeah, they make some bad decisions out here … For the most part people are law abiding, they want to be here to have fun, they don’t want to cause any trouble.”
Those “bad decisions” can happen at Rider games, at Mosaic — anywhere liquor is sold, said Blevins.
Which begs the question, how about a Craven booze ban?
“I don’t think putting a restriction on it and taking the choice out of people’s hands is the right way to go,” said Blevins. “I support people making their own choices and us educating them how to make good choices.”
Besides, forbidding liquor from Craven would be difficult to enforce.
“People sneak booze in anyways; you can’t check every vehicle coming in because if you do that, you have traffic tie-ups on the highway and that’s a safety issue,” Blevins added.
By Friday, the RCMP had dealt with 105 crimes at Craven. The next day, there were an additional 83. There were 31 calls for service in the 24 hours through to Sunday morning, including 21 liquor act violations and a vehicle collision, with 14 people in custody at the Lumsden RCMP.
As of Sunday morning, the weekend had involved four reported assaults with a weapon.
“So far, and knock on wood, crime is down” from last year, said Munro, when 149 criminal charges were laid.
“The people that come out to enjoy these events, they see the heavy presence of security, police,” he added. “Everybody’s here to have fun, stay safe and obey the law.”
More than 90 RCMP officers are working Craven this year.