external monologue

That is one of the greatest photos I have ever seen. I want a copy to hang on my wall.

I knew it.
And people wonder why they should spank their kids.

Although, admittedly, since it was a cat, I'm not too upset.

I second Mesh's emotions on this pic...
Can you e-mail me a copy I could print out?
Melissa will just die to see this. You need to get it printed somewhere. Just look at both their faces...

This is the best picture! I laughed so hard, which is just what I needed.

this is in response to the "now, for all of you cat lovers out there (not I)" comment..... don't betray your past andy . . . . i know for a fact you used to be a cat lover. i can remember one time specifically when we lived in the "valley" house in gainesville (circa 1990) when i was 'playing' with Sugar when we first got her by holding the scruff of her neck and jumping up and down on your bed (much resembling the photo). when you came in you threw a fit and lectured me about treatment of animals. Dab-of-Gray (supposedly YOUr cat)is turning in his grave somewhere after that comment.... shame shame

P S - love the photo

quite literally laugh out loud funny

in fact, we should start a whole "isabelle harassing animals" photo section

next week: isabelle assaults the endergered black rhinoceros!

ahh... called out as a closet cat lover by my own flesh and bone. well, yes, i must admit that my supposed distaste for felines is probably more manly posturing than any kind of real aversion to them. i do consider myself more of a "dog guy" but then, i was the first to jump in and rescue that kitty. oh well...

andy
you are the man
i hate cats...
i LOVE your picture...
peace

See, you guys actually think the kitten is hurting, but I bet that it's just annoyed. I mean, just look at how the mama cats carry them! I do like cats and I have carried them like this (as a child) and it always makes for good laughs and embarrasing moments for Isabelle later. hehehe.

Andy got ratted out by his dad; Andy got ratted out by his dad; Andy got ratted out by his dad;

This a great picture and your description would provided was priceless. Great sence of humor.

actually... i was ratted out by brother joel. the moniker 'monty' is a little confusing in this setting, but i think we've all agreed to let the youngest monty to claim the nickname.

the nickname was simply unclaimed, all i did was claim it. i can live with giving it up for the right price.... the bidding starts at $500.... what?!? anyone can be bought out.

Katie - when have you ever seen a momma cat carry her kittens by the tail!? The scruff of the neck won't hurt them, but the tail is an appendage. It could have gotten dislodged from its socket, and that would have been very painful!

I agree with Frederick. Spank this child.

nahh... kittens, like small children, are actually made of rubber, and therefore they can't really be hurt. the cat was about as unfazed by this supposed abuse as isabelle would be by a spanking.

I've shown this to several people and always get a delightful reaction. A couple said you should enter this in some kind of photography contest.

hmm... good idea. okay, i've posted it on the Photo of the Week contest over on photographyblog.com. i think you vote for me here.

Thanks Andy I didn't even have to defend myself. Yes rubber, don't cats always land on their feet too? Even if you drop them by the tail.

I guess I'm the only person totally disturbed by this photograph. I do admit, I love cats. And I also admit, that seeing this image bothers me, it doesn't make me laugh--at all. I guess I had to say something. I am sorry. What might seem harmless and funny to some, does bother others. :[

next, we should do one with fireworks up the animal's ass. sort of like this CNN story: Dogs attacked with fireworks

The more I think about this, the more it bothers me. So I'm going to get my thoughts out there.

When Brady was hurt, I watched many of you pray for his recovery. You came together and spoke together, you showed compassion for another life. And while I am no longer a practicing catholic (perhaps, you can pray for me now, too), I did hold what I witnessed here in a certain esteem. I found what many of you wrote, your devotion, your care, your words to be quite inspiring--having that kind of faith--it's admirable.

But I do know this, MY God does not condone the pain and suffering of any living, innocent creature. Shame on all of you for finding this image "funny" or "incredible". Shame on you for taking pleasure in another creature's misfortune. Animal or not, it breaths much like Brady does, much like you do. Show life a little respect--no matter how small and meaningless it may seem to you it is indeed alive. It does indeed feel pain.

Shame on you all. There is no grace behind this image. There's no grace here at all.

I think the humor isnt in the pain of the kitty, but more in the reactions of the cute kid and cute kitty, which is looking quite ferocious, while the kid remains calmly cute.

of course nothing ruins a good laugh like explaining it.

well of course the cat is being 'cause discomfort, which is why isabelle needed, like Frederick pointed out, a spanking for her mistreatment of the kitty.

I still find it funny. I'm willing to sacrifice that little slice of my own morality on the alter of humor, 'cause dang, if it aint rewarding.

That's it. I cannot sit here anymore.

1) You do not spank a child over something like this. You do not spank a child over an effort to help. Also, this is one of the reasons God has given cats and dogs claws. Sometimes a scratch or a nip does more than a spanking. If you spank a kid for somehting have not done before or have been warned about, you are really setting a bad precedant. In this situation, ahe was probably told by Andy not to do it again. That is all that needs to be done for now. If it happens again, then you get a little more serious. The reactions about spanking a child in an instance portrayed here subtly says somehting about where we put God's creation in relation to those inthe image of God. This is an incidious affect of culture.

2) God did infact require that innoncent animals to be sacrificed for our sins for centuries unitl Christ came and made the final sacrifice so that we would no longer have to do such things. That same Christ told us to subdue the Earth. In Genesis, God tells us we are to rulle the earth. It means we do not take any life frivalously but it also means that the creation in the image of God is more important than the creation which is to be subdued.

3) It is a funny picutue took by a caring person who probably quitely encouraged the little girl that this is not the way we take care of animals.

Dan you obviously didn't get spanked enough as a child

I got the wire hanger once. And there was the reliable butter knife handle to the head if things were getting out of hand at the dinner table.

I don't know young Isabelle, but unless she was being cruely defiant to multiple scouldings to "put the kitty down!!" I don't think she deserves a spanking, but she also doesn't deserve encouragment. I don't think young Isabelle is reading all of these posts and tittering away at her diabolical act so yeah, I agree with Fredrick. A cat is a cat, they survive almost anything. 9 lives right? Kittens are cute and snuggly I wish I had one!

I think we should beat andy for starting this whole fiasco...

my favorite spanking weapon of choice was the studded belt, can't go wrong with that

Isabelle was trying to get away from a dog. In her innocence/inexperience she ended up doing exactly what it is she was trying to avoid. She wasn't being malicious. She was reacting practically to the situation as it presented itself. As for spanking her for it, it's the child's heart parents are trying to train. That's what needs to be looked at.

I searched the web high and low. The only damage resulting from holding a cat by the tail that I could find from the experts was damage done to the one holding the cat. But this is fun: http://biology.kenyon.edu/heithausp/cat-tutorial/vertebrae/caudal.htm

"I know a man who grabbed a cat by the tail and learned 40 percent more about cats than the man who didn't." - Mark Twain

I did not laugh at this at all. Holding a cat like this really hurts it.
Knowing people think inflicting pain is cute/funny makes me very angry. I am haunted and bewildered by this human response which runs so fluidly on the continuum between insensitivity to sadism.

You guys are taking this thing WAY too seriously. It's my cat for crying out loud.

And Frederick is right, knowing Isabelle, she probably did deserve a spanking.

I should preface my comments by admitting I'm not overly fond of animals generally. That said I really don't think this photo is much to be angry about. In my experience creatures hurting other creatures is one of the many imperfections in life, and, as with many of them, finkding humor in the situation is an effective and, I think, acceptable way of coping. I mean, I've had other people do things that caused me quite a bit of physical pain because they didn't realize they were or happened to by complete accident. It didn't make me think, "cruelty to Ben." Usually I ended up laughing about it, once the pain subsided. I think the picture's funny because you've got a cute little girl picking up and undoubtedly hurting a cute little kitty out of at least some naivete. Even though it's quite probable that she had an idea what she was doing was wrong, on e of the most endearing qualities of this moment is the nostalgia for the innocence displayed in Isabelle's facial expression as a reaction to the cat's protest.

"I am haunted and bewildered by this human response which runs so fluidly on the continuum between insensitivity to sadism."

Well. Hot darn. I myself am often haunted by things running fluidly.

ya Mesh, you and Lucy

I don't know anyone here but I figured I would give my opinion anyway, especially since I don't know anyone here.
LynnP- I was typing my own thing to say but your statement is perfect and exactly what I was going to say.
In addition to that, the actual photo isn't very funny, and not because of the cat, but because it's just not funny. I think it could have been a better picture had the child not been looking at the camera but in this case it's just a snap shot that doesn't really tell me anything except that a child is holding a cat by it's tail. So maybe that's all it's supposed to be. Just my opinion. If you weren't going for a photo journalistic picture then disregard my comment. I also think you shouldn't have cut off her foot. But the little girl is really cute. I'll stop now so that everyone can tear me apart for saying my opinion.

I hate to go grave-digging, but I just wanted to point out that this photo is similar to a VERY famous photo featured in a little magazine called Life (it was the back page photo in the very first issue, a b&w picture of a little boy holding a kitty very still so he could get his picture taken). Maybe you amatuer picture-takers have heard of Life, it's got some pictures and has been around a couple of years. Anyway, all you PETA folks need to quit acting so high and mighty (and serious) and get a sense of humor. The cat was probably in very little pain, and no permanent damage was done. You ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Yeah, you laughed when the dad got hit in the groin with the baseball. I laughed too. It's called having a sense of humor.

Great shot, Andy. Don't let the naysayers tell you otherwise.

I don't think there's anything wrong with this photo. It wasn't set up to be cruel, and was captured in the moment.

That being said however, a lot of stupid people have posted here about how this kind of behavior is fine because they hate cats. I think this is what annoys most of us responding negatively to this photo. I'm sure I don't have to explain how immature and thoughtless you "dog lovers" claim to be. Clearly you have little respect for any kind of animal.

Anyway, being an amature photographer myself, I realize how difficult this shot must've been to take. Great capture. I don't know about Life magazine though. ;)

Omg thats right! Please come see me and my friends! ;)

I don't think you should stop here! Perhaps next time you can try to take a picture of the little girl, hanging upside-down, while someone is holding her by her hair...That would be HILARIOUS, wouldn't it? I mean, that person shouldn't hold her like that for long, just enough to take some photos... not many, I think 30- 40 would do. Of course, the girl might be left with no hair, but what does it matter, since it's so FUNNY??? Really looking forward to this!
P.S. This IS just a joke. But I really think that kids and parents who think this is funny should be going to serious councelling...

I don't think you should stop here! Perhaps next time you can try to take a picture of the little girl, hanging upside-down, while someone is holding her by her hair...That would be HILARIOUS, wouldn't it? I mean, that person shouldn't hold her like that for long, just enough to take some photos... not many, I think 30- 40 would do. Of course, the girl might be left with no hair, but what does it matter, since it's so FUNNY??? Really looking forward to this!
P.S. This IS just a joke. But I really think that kids and parents who think this is funny should be going to serious councelling...

This is horrible. If you take a minute to look at the poor kittens face, instead of the girl's, you'd probably think different. I sure do. Instead of taking a picture, you should have went right to her and helped the cat. If you were a cat being held and swung by the tail, I'm sure you'd be a bit ticked off if the person who needed to save you, took some time to take a picture, first.

No herb will cure love... Hansse

Charity begins at home... Ebulus

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds... Lucretia

A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf... Owen

He is not fit to command others that cannot command himself... Jane

He that will thrive, must rise at five... Oliver

He that will thrive, must rise at five... Oliver

Better unborn than untaught... Blanche

To tell tales out of school... Osmund

Be slow to promise and quick to perform... Edi

This is so mean! I can't beleive somebody would be mean enough to take a picture of this cruel thing! you should be locked up somewhere you criminal mastermind! IF SOMEBODY DOES THAT THEN SPANK THEM AND SEND THEM IN FOR A TIMEOUT BECAUSE THATS ABUSING ANIMALS!! you are a bad person. i think its just sad how mean you are.... so i have to say i hate you and that child.

Unlike you, I actually CARE. I am actually NICE. I dont want to HURT other living things. You are a bully. You dont care. Your are not nice. You want to hurt other living things and you are teaching that child that it is good to be mean and hurt living creatures and she will probably get herself in big troube and it will be all because of you. You ought to be ashamed you moster! YOU MEAN PERSON! your so cruel! Picking a cat up by its tail is like picking a person up by their hair. How would you feel, beinmg dangled by one of your most delicate body parts? shame on you and shame on that girl. Shame on your parents for not teaching you to be nice. I HATE YOU AND SO SHOULD EVERYONE ELSE!!

Somebody ought to report you. Actually, I just might do that. BECAUSE I CARE about living creatures. hope you have fun being reported

Brittney said "Shame on your parents for not teaching you to be nice. I HATE YOU AND SO SHOULD EVERYONE ELSE!!"

Wow, Brittney, judging by your comments I'd say you'd think it was okay to be mean. Looks like someone needs to learn how to be nice themselves.