Pennsylvania: Pierced kittens owner Holly Crawford goes to trial

As if the world is not crazy enough, Gothic kittens were being marketed by a 35-year-old woman from Pennsylvania. Her trial starts today.

“A Pennsylvania woman is facing trial on animal cruelty charges for marketing ‘gothic kittens’ with ear and neck piercings over the Internet,” begins the AP coverage.

Holly Crawford heads to court as prosecutors say she inflicted pain on the cats to make money. Attorneys for Crawford say she didn’t act maliciously.

Crawford’s home outside Wilkes-Barre was raided in December 2008 after the animal protection authorities received a tip she was marketing the animals online for hundreds of dollars.

Crawford said she used sterilized needles and made sure the kittens were healing properly. She said she wasn’t trying to hurt them.

Below is a photo of one of these “gothic kittens.”

Melinda Merck, an animal cruelty investigator and veterinarian, said the ear piercings altered the cats’ hearing.

The piercings at the back of their necks and base of tails hampered balance and jumping, local media quoted her as saying.

“They were maimed and disfigured,” she said, adding that if infections had become severe, the three-month-old kittens could have died.

Humane officer Carol Morrison testified the cost to rehabilitate the kittens was upwards of $1,000.

In an interview with The Associated Press a year ago, Crawford said she didn’t think there was a difference between piercing a cat or a human.