Vive La Quill: AKA This Kitty is Pissed

I often wonder what people perceive articles will be about from their title. Three times this week so far, I have seen headlines in local newspapers, that led me to believe a story was about something entirely different from what it was.

The first was rather humourous. “Caldwell Takes on the World” appeared in The Brandon Sun. Thinking this was about our local politician Drew, I began reading the article, only to find that it was about Jaime Caldwell, and extraordinary kid taking on the world, one kick at a time. That same afternoon, I saw another headline “Breaking News - Police investigating shooting of family pet.” Immediately I was stunned that this was deemed “Breaking News”. Though in the literal sense, I suppose, the local daily paper did ‘break’ the story.

Now then, I’m not going to rant about how I question if police resources should be spent on investigating pet shootings. Especially since the article below it has the headline of “Station cuts worry police union boss.”

I do think this is news. I think there’s a huge issue when guns are fired within city limits. This time, it hit a pet, was it a disgruntled neighbour? Some kid toying around with a gun in his house not realizing the dangers? Or was it youth related violence? Those are only a few of the possibilities.

Here’s the part where you can all label me a cat hater. Here’s the truth. I once saved a kitten from a dog, I raised it and fed it with a syringe. It got older and had a urinary track infection. Rather than put it down, I coerced my brother into taking it to the local vet for surgery - a third time - at the expense of my parents. My cat is still alive - he lives off special food now and has bad breath, but I still love him.

What’s the point? I want the story about how this affects people in Brandon, I want the story about the police investigation. I want to know who did it and why, and if the police are going to spend money on investigating it, I want something to come of it. Animal cruelty is horrible. What I didn’t want, was just another story about a cat, and that’s what I got when I read the full story in Thursday’s paper. So here’s some headlines for next time. “Cat-astrophe in Brandon”, “Towing the fe-Line”. This kitty is less pissed now, and hopes the cat can still live a happy life. PS. We love the name Quiggley.