Barry Accorti

[cashflyer]

[edit: I have already asked that this be moved to PARF if the mods deem it necessary]



June 12, 2013

On Monday in Ohio, animal control Officer Barry Accorti shot and killed a litter of kittens in front of freaked-out children nearby. “He informed [a witness] that shelters were full and that these cats would be going to kitty heaven,” Ohio SPCA Executive Director Teresa Landon told the Sun News.

Landon said the home owner, who had called for help, assumed the officer "would be trapping them or something and taking them to a shelter and they would be humanely euthanized if they were not adopted."

“Instead, he went to his truck and got a gun, which she thought was a tranquilizer gun, and walked around to the back of the house and approximately 15 feet from her back door shot and killed the 8- to 10-week-old kittens.”

The stunned observer alerted the Ohio SPCA to the officer's actions, and the animal rights group responded with a Facebook campaign to "expose" the behavior and call for accountability.

“Her children were upstairs in view of the windows. They started screaming and crying because they heard the gunshots. They started screaming, ‘Mommy, he’s killing the kittens,’” Landon said, “It’s heartbreaking… There is no excuse for it. It’s absolutely shameful that someone with the title of humane officer would do this.”

North Ridgeville Police Department Chief Mike Freeman released a statementdefending Accorti, who the Ohio SPCA has demanded be fired and charged with animal abuse.

“The cats were located within the wood pile and euthanized,” Freeman said, “The cats were removed from the wood pile and taken from the residence.”

He decided Accorti’s “actions were appropriate,” and will not “impose any disciplinary measures for the incident.”

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By Michael Allen, Wed, June 12, 2013

An unidentified mom is angry at a humane officer in North Ridgeville, Ohio, who shot and killed a litter of kittens outside of her home and within eyesight of her small children on June 10 (video below).

The mom called the authorities after discovering a feral cat and her kittens living in a woodpile outside her house.

“[Humane Officer Barry Accorti] informed her that shelters were full and that these cats would be going to kitty heaven,” Ohio SPCA Executive Director Teresa Landon told the Sun News. “She assumed he would be trapping them or something and taking them to a shelter and they would be humanely euthanized if they were not adopted.Instead, he went to his truck and got a gun, which she thought was a tranquilizer gun, and walked around to the back of the house and approximately 15 feet from her back door shot and killed the 8 to 10-week-old kittens.”

Landon added: “Her children were upstairs in view of the windows. They started screaming and crying because they heard the gunshots. They started screaming, ‘Mommy, he’s killing the kittens.' “It’s heartbreaking ... There is no excuse for it. It’s absolutely shameful that someone with the title of humane officer would do this.”

North Ridgeville Police Department Chief Mike Freeman released a statement, which stated: “After visiting the scene, talking with the responding officer and reinterviewing the complainant, I have decided his actions were appropriate and have decided not to impose any disciplinary measures for the incident. We will talk with the humane officers about improving their communications with the public."

However, "communications" were never the issue. The killing of the kittens with a gun 15 feet away from her children is the mom's complaint.

The North Ridgeville Police Department had to take down its Facebook page for hours on Monday because of “overwhelming abuse” by supporters of the mom and the kittens. The police lectured those who oppose shooting kittens on good "manners."

“We are firm believers in everyone having their right to express their opinions about what we do, even dissenting, but they must maintain a level of common decency,” said the North Ridgeville Police Department on its Facebook page. “We created this post to give you a place to speak out for or against what is being reported. Please be respectful of others and use the manners that you were all raised with. Thank you.”

The Facebook page is back up, but more than 1,000 anti-police comments were reportedly deleted.

[ video here: Humane Officer Barry Accorti Shoots Kittens in Front of Kids (Video) ]

*****

13 June 2013

NORTH RIDGEVILLE -- We were told Humane Officer Barry Accorti would be back on the job today and that's where Channel 3 found him.

He is the officer who responded to the call made by a woman who wanted a feral mother cat and her litter of five kittens removed from her backyard wood pile.

But she was stunned when Accorti shot and killed the five kittens right there in the yard and while her children were in the house.

The North Ridgeville Police Department released a statement, defending Accorti's actions, but no one from the city would go on camera for an interview.

North Ridgeville Officer back on the job after shooting kittens | wkyc.com

[Rick Lee]

Wow. Is it really ok to shoot a gun in public, near a house, when there's no danger to anyone? Were these kitten feral or rabid? 8-10 wks. is probably old enough that they'd run away at the first sign of trouble. Something stinks here.