CAT FANCY and CatChannel Editor Susan Logan blogs about two teens who tortured a cat to death.

I’m still numb after reading one of the stories on today’s CatChannel Newswire about two Alberta, Canada, teens who broke into a home and tortured the family cat to death in a microwave oven. To say the story grieves and disturbs me just isn’t quite enough to describe how I feel.

I grieve for Princess the cat, who suffered great physical and emotional pain that lasted for maybe 10 minutes before she died. I grieve for Princess’ family knowing how their beloved cat’s last moments were spent. And I’m disturbed that there are people who could do such a thing walking freely in our society.

One hundred hours of community service with no jail time does not fit this crime. These are 16-year-olds, not children. They know good from evil and they knew this was evil. They could have put a stop to what they were doing at some point during the 10 minutes in which Princess was screaming in pain. But they let it go on until she died.

I can’t even imagine what punishment would fit such a crime and I don’t want to, because I don’t want my thoughts to be as cruel as theirs. I do believe they will have to answer to God one day and, frankly, they should be scared.