Annals of Cruelty: Kitten Buried Alive in Cement

• by Megan Drake, care2.com
  Depravity runs deep in many humans, and they usually indulge such instincts on the most vulnerable creatures. 

From Colorado City, Arizona comes a case of animal abuse that will break your heart.  A four-month-old kitten was found stuffed into a pipe up to his neck in wet cement, but not until he had been there approximately 18 hours.  The cries were so pitiful the video is difficult to watch.

Andrew Chatwin was helping his friend Isaac Wyler build a shade shelter for his horses at the end of May.  He set pipes in cement in the ground and left them overnight to harden.  When he returned May 31, he heard the plaintive cries of a kitten coming from one of the pipes.

Chatwin and Wyler set about to rescue the kitten they eventually named Thomas.  It took many more hours to cut the pipe, dig out the footing, remove the pipe off the hardened cement and gently chip away at the cold prison the kitty had been so cruelly forced into.

Thomas suffered severe injuries from his ordeal — including cement in his eyes — and was eventually euthanized several days after being brought to Best Friends Sanctuary in Kenab, Utah. It isn’t difficult to imagine Thomas’ suffering when you see the photo of him struggling in his cement prison with only his head and one paw free to move.  When local authorities wouldn’t investigate the cruelty, the rescue attempt was uploaded to YouTube on July 1.

Chatwin claims this is not the first animal abuse case he and Wyler have seen in Colorado City.  They attribute it to Warren Jeffs, a convicted felon and head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) who is currently in prison serving a life sentence plus 20 years for sexual assault on two underage girls he “married.”  Chatwin left the church 13 years ago, Wyler 4 years ago.  Both say there have seen numerous dead animals thrown on their properties, which they attribute to followers of Jeffs and FLDS.

Chatwin described the initial reaction by local authorities to his animal cruelty report during a Right This Minute.com interview.  “[The city marshal] … kind of chuckled and laughed a little bit and then he said if it was up to him he’d just throw dirt over it [the cat].”  Chatwin also said he and Wyler believe this act of animal cruelty was a message sent to Isaac Wyler by the FLDS church.  He says he has documented more than a dozen dead animals found in Wyler’s horse corral and truck.  They believe because they are outspoken against polygamy, they have been targeted by FLDS members for this type of harassment.

A Care2 petition has been started urging the Colorado City sheriffs to “thoroughly and seriously investigate the case.”  Currently there are more than 12,000 signatures.  Please consider adding your name to it.

Best Friends is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator of this heinous crime.  If anyone has such information please contact Mohave (Arizona) County Sheriff’s Office at 800-526-1911.