18-year old Leon Teague decided it would be funny to pour boiling water over a cat, take video of it, and post it online. The Chicago man was arrested when authorities identified him in the video. The boiling water kitty didn’t escape even remotely unscathed – he suffered severe scalds to his midsection and legs thanks to Teague’s cruelty. Thankfully, Teague is behind bars and a Rogers Park shelter has stepped up to take care of this poor cat.
The boiling water kitty has a name now
Driver, as Felines & Canines named him, was released from animal control sometime on Monday. Once he was brought to Felines & Canines, they rushed him to their vet so he could begin treatment (WARNING: The images below are graphic. Discretion is advised):
To everyone who has been anxiously awaiting an update on Driver, the innocent cat who was doused by a pot of boiling…
Posted by Felines & Canines on Monday, February 8, 2016
The video itself went viral, and I couldn’t watch all of it
When I first discovered the video, I burst into tears and I couldn’t stop crying for an hour (while I went and hugged all my cats repeatedly). It takes a special kind of sick and twisted nature to harm an animal in any way, and especially to put it on video and post it like you’re bragging. Burns are very painful, and very subject to infection and other complications. Driver, the boiling water kitty, has a long, tough recovery ahead of him.
I don’t know if the video has been pulled, or if it’s still available. I won’t post it here because it was very traumatic for me to watch, and I don’t want to give any more views to it, even for the best of reasons.
For his part, Teague is being charged with one count of felony animal cruelty, and one count of misdemeanor depiction of animal cruelty, for making Driver the boiling water kitty. He’s being held without bond, and he has been put in solitary confinement to keep him away from the rest of the prison population. It seems inmates take to animal abusers in much the same way that they take to child abusers.
If you’d like to help the boiling water kitty in his treatment and recovery, there is a donation link in the Facebook post above. You can also click here to donate to Driver’s fund.
I hope that the other inmates get to the monster who did this. Pour boiling water on him.
They didn’t pour boiling water on him, but they did get to him and they did hurt him rather badly.