to be very disturbed by the treatment of Mary Bale (cat-in-the-bin-woman!)

[tweetymum]

Hear me out first please!

She did a very wrong thing, and I would have been furious if she had done that to my cat. However, I am extremely disturbed by the way she has been portrayed by the tabloid and national media. First, I think it may be illegal to film people without their knowledge (I am not sure about the exact regulations) but I am sure that you have to be informed if you are being watched on CCTV. She may not have done this to the kitty cat had she known she was being filmed and the cat would have been spared its ordeal.

To them put said film on the internet and trample all over the person?s privacy, is imo, not a very nice thing to do. Perhaps, all the owners wanted to do was identify the woman. But there must have been other ways to do this? Take it to the police maybe? RSPCA? But to make the recording (which may have been illegal in the first place) and then post it without a thought of the way in which this person?s life would be affected is thoughtless in the extreme.

How would the owners of the cat feel if, due to their video, some psychotic animal lover seriously injured or even killed Mary Bale?

I am also very disturbed by the way the media have jumped on this bandwagon, with some pretty abusive things being said about her. Let?s face it, which of us has not reacted in some shit way when we are stressed? But we have not been made into national hate figures. And there are people who have done worse in their lives who get away scot free.

I think that what Mary Bale did to the cat was very wrong and she should be punished suitably. However, I also cannot condone, what I see as extremely irresponsible behaviour, by the owners of putting the video on what is essentially a window to the world and ruining the woman?s life.

Cheese, different people react to stress in different ways, some get a total buzz out of it and it absolutely cripples others.

Sorry posted to fast. And some just "cope" with it.

I wouldn't say I was coping lol, but I don't think stress is any excuse for doing what she did. Not everything can be put down to some excuse, how about people take responsibility for their own actions for once?

Cheese I do agree with you WRT people taking responsability, I just have a "thing" with people who cope better than others so cannot magine the misery some people might feel in the same circumstances, just because they are not as strong. It is rather outside the subject of the thread though so I will stop right there.

Hehe I understand what you mean :) Personally, I have no choice but to cope but that's just the way it is.

On a serious note - if in a dark moment I were to impulsively do what this woman did - I just know I would have to go back and check it out, open the lid and rescue it.

That's the difference between normal foolishness and psycho foolishness.

She didn't go back.

Stupid bint shouldn't have done it in the first place. Karma can be cruel.

YABU. No sympathy whatsoever for the woman. I don't think filming her was a breach of her privacy as she was in a public street. Somebody could have seen her from a window.

I think it's disgusting that the police said there was no crime involved. Surely there are laws against animal cruelty? As for the police having other priorities, every day they deal with things like vandalism; shoplifting; fights on a Saturday night (meaning chav on chav where they both want a fight, not where there is a genuine victim)and a million petty things. If you can prove that the police in Coventry have been dealing exclusively with terrorism, murder and rape, then yes, you have a point. I bet they've dealt with some of the above, though. I personally think dumping a cat in a bin for 16 hours is worse. And what if she had animals herself? Surely they need to check that she isn't ill treating them?

My partner works in banking, and you do have to be trustworthy. How would you like it if a cashier took a dislike to you and took money from your account, or gave away your bank details? She clearly has a malicious nature.

No sympathy whatsoever.

I wish she'd come around to mine and shove my cat in the wheelie bin as it a pain in the rear!

Rebeccaruby You really think that putting a cat in bin, where the cat was unharmed, warrants police time ahead of dealing with vandalism to people's property, shoplifting of people's property, violence being dished out to people? Really?

You also think that an animal cruelty charge shows a pre-disposition to fraud?! I do hope your partner takes a very strict line with anyone in his bank with points on their driving licence or who gets fined for littering - they'll probably have their hands in the till as we speak.

In the cold light of day I am disheartened to still see people still believe that receiving death threats and requiring police escorts and losing your livelihood is a proportionate response and is "deserved". If there was no CCTV footage with which to titillate the mob then this story probably wouldn't even have made the local paper, let a lone the nationals. She would have been found guilty of something (I assume) and fined or given a community order and/or a ban on pet ownership. That's what is deserved.

[The wine last night was indeed excellent, so much so that doing the housework this morning was a little trickier than usual. And now I've got a sink to polish]

I'm sure most cases of domestic violence and child abuse happen during stressful situations. I wouldn't excuse someone for beating their partner because they'd had a rough week though.

I think putting the cat in the bin is a million times worse than abusing people's property. Stuff doesn't matter. If someone vandalises my house or car, they will wish they hadn't cause I will report them to the police, but if someone harms my family (and my pets are my family) trust me they will wish they hadn't because I won't report them to the police.

Well, I don't condone the act that this woman committed, it was, without doubt a senseless and cruel thing to do.

But why, oh why, oh why was it headline news?
And why did the owners of the film footage feel the urge to publicise it on a site that it notorious for its wide-spread viral nature? Can't help but wonder if any money changed hands between them and the media companies....

I truly despair of the likes of Sky News and The Sun who ultimately hold responsibility for this frenzy of baying for blood. The woman may well deserve prosecution but not this totallly public besmirching of her character. Have we not progressed from the times of placing people in stocks to be abused and ridiculed by total strangers? It speaks volumes of the majority of the British public who have jumped on this pathetic bandwagon.

The RSPCA prosecutes many many individuals each year for much more inhuman and heinous crimes against defenceless animals, yet we don't see all the other suspects paraded into public view and pilloried. Furthermore, the culprits once they have served their sentence are able to slip back into society unnoticed.
Same goes for petty criminals etc.

If I were Mary Bale, I would offer a full and frank apology, pay any fine and then launch a private and comprehensive lawsuit against those who have now made her every-day life extremely difficult.

what she did might have led to the death of an animal, something that could never be undone, not like vandalism which can be repaired. People are disturbed and angry by this level of cruelty. People who do such things are most probably ill, and who knows what else they might do? I wouldn't want her to be a nurse or a childminder, for example.

On the video issue - A person should have no reasonable expectation of privacy on a public street. You need only to look up the statistics on how many times we are actually captured on video each day (if you haven't come across this you might be shocked to find out). I have no issue with the video being posted. The video never would have gone viral if it wasn't for the fact that it showed something so disturbing.

And yes, I have recently dealt with vandalism, which is very troubling and stressful, but I would most certainly want law enforcement to deal with the potential death of an innocent animal before scratches on my car if that were the choice. No contest.

Always interesting to read the perspectives on MN though.

my thoughts on this:

1. CCTV etc doesnt bother me - I am not doing anything wrong so what am I suppose to be worried about it capturing? I have no truck frankly with the whinging about eroding civil liberties - those people's car was vandalised and they wanted to stop it and protect their property - other people's actions pushed them to this.

1. I think trying to compare this with vandalism, Jamie Bulger case etc etc is not the point - I dont think having a society where we only look to punish and hold accountable people for some examples of wrong doing over others is itself wrong

1. I dont think this lady should be attacked by a mob or anything and I think you will find it has been widely reported the cat's owners have asked that people let the authorities deal with it but no I dont feel any sympathy for her - it galls me to think this woman walked away thinking she had gotten away with doing something mindlessly cruel

1. I think her excuse of stress is pathetic

• there wasnt any provocation that could explain a momentary loss of control - she was calm and deliberate - I might suggest that is one of the reasons it has caught the public's imagination - a nondescript and by outward appearances a seemingly regular decent person who in a 'private' moment effectively tried to kill a living being for no reason whatsoever - sends a shiver down your spine doesnt it?

1. I think it warrants investigation - after all its a weird thing to do and how excactly did her father end up in hospital? Ok that is wildly left field but still...?

1. re possibly losing her job - well its like people caught being football vandals or members of the BNP - it says something about them doesnt it? I assume the people I work with a generally decent and I understand that strictly speaking it isnt my concern what people do in their personal lives - I should be concerned with their ability to do their job however, part of working is an expectation of 'acting' with integrity etc and surely this displays the possibility that she would replicate the way she behaved with the cat in the workplace - fact is it raises the concern/question.

Of the postings I have to say DysonDad yours have bothered me the most - because ultimately the CCTV tape can only show what SHE DID - I dont see how the blame for all this falls to the CCTV footage!

And actually frankly isnt it only when the 'mob' is riled that changes are made? Think you'll find hisotry is littered with examples.

I said to DP last night that I thought the reaction to this has been very OTT. I agree that what she did was shite and she should be punished - by the relevant authorities, not nutty animal rights/ vigilantes etc.
People are asking for her to be killed ffs = she made a stupid split second mistake, its not as if she got hold of it, battered it half to death and then shot it.
Typical British OTT reaction.

I agree with the OP.

I believe she must have been slightly unhinged to do this act, at the very least she needs some counselling.

Whilst this is an abhorrent act of animal cruelty it appears very out of character and should be dealt with appropriately through the courts leading to probably a fine and some community work.

What has happened is ridiculous. She will likely lose her job and be ridiculed in the streets. It is disproportionate.

Each day there are murders, rapes, beatings, muggings, acts of horrendous animal cruelty where the critters are dismembered, burned or bashed to death. There are acts of culpable driving leading to death, children are being abused and raped, yet this woman has to suffer the loathing of the tabloid-consuming proletariat.

This country really is packed with brain-dead morons.

snobear - you seem to suggest no one cares about the things you mention - I would think you will find people really do - the press coverage of Baby P for example - it got to the point where I couldnt read anymore I got so angry but the identities of the people responsible was kept annonymous so who to be angry with? Now they are in prison and out of reach but anyway I am actually arguing against my own point which is that I dont think being angry at this woman and wanting her to atone for what she did TAKES AWAY from any of the awful crimes you list - its not like I only have limited capacity to want to see justice done and thereby this stupid woman and what she did means I or anyone else cant feel the appropriate horror for crimes against children, old people etc etc

snobear - the people who care about cruelty generally care about the victim whether that is a human being or any other living creature.

People who are cruel to animals are generally cruel to human beings, too.

It's the people who DON'T care you need to target.

"she made a stupid split second mistake."

No, not a 'split second' - far longer than that. This woman never returned to check on the cat. If you're angry and wound up - how long does it take to calm down after a split second of madness. About four hours? Then your conscience might kick in. Her conscience never kicked in - because she never returned to the scene.

That's what makes this crime sinister.

It makes me wonder whether she's done anything else like this in the past.

People don't normally go chucking live animals in bins on a whim.

Drinking the bottle of wine you've been saving on the spur of the moment is normal, giving the £5 you've been saving to a charity is rational.

I don't agree with the death threats, but the woman made a choice that reflects the way she thinks.

I can't see how anyone getting upset about it could be described as a brain dead moron, it must be awful for you to live here snobear amongst such plebs.

Genuinely caring for children and animals isn't an either/or choice, it is possible to do both.

Agree with you.

I'm as soppy about animals as the next woman (probably more) but I think she is being hounded shamefully.

I think part of the reaction is the feeling that so much animal cruelty goes unpunished so she's getting in the neck for all those cases.

BTW I don't think that because bad things happen to human beings, we shouldn't punish the things that happen to other animals in our society.