WHAT'S NEXT

No More Leniency For Gothic Kitten Abuser
  1. Signatures
    1,567 out of 2,500
    Petitioning
    1. Judge, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Judge, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (Tina Polachek Gartley)
      • Deputy District Attorney, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (David Pedri)
  2. Created By
    Pamela Black
    Lapeer, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Jun 13, 2011

Holly Crawford docked the tails of kittens and pierced them with earrings and body piercings, then attempted to sell them online as "gothic kittens." After being convicted of animal cruelty, she appealed to the courts to allow her to re-open her home-based grooming business.

More than 1,500 members of the Change.org community called for Crawford, who claimed she hadn't done anything wrong, to complete her sentence and evaluation before being allowed to work with animals again. In mid-June the court upheld both the animal cruelty conviction and the sentence.

Holly Crawford, convicted of animal cruelty for her attempted internet sale of pierced and tail-docked "gothic kittens," is seeking to re-open her home-based grooming business.

Crawford tried to sell three kittens on eBay that had a variety of piercings and docked tails. She was convicted of a misdemeanor and a summary count of animal cruelty under Pennsylvania animal cruelty laws. The original sentence called for six months of house arrest and an additional twenty-one months of evaluation, during which time the business is to remain closed. Considering Pennsylvania law calls for mandatory jail time, Ms. Crawford has already received a fair amount of leniency from the courts.

Promising to never pierce or tail-dock kittens again, Ms. Crawford is preying on the kindness of the court. During trial, Ms. Crawford did not believe she had done anything wrong, even relaying the belief that her kittens were happy under her care.

As the basis for re-opening her grooming business, Ms. Crawford claims that she is in high demand and hasn't been able to find other employment. A weak argument, considering Luzerne County has an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. That's about 30,000 people also looking for work.

Ms. Crawford should count her blessings to still be allowed to have animals of her own.  Entrusting the lives of other people's animals in a basement-run home business is not a gamble that should be bet on.

Tell Luzerne County court to deny Ms. Crawford's probation petition, allowing her complete evaluation to determine whether she should be allowed to run a business centered on animals.

Photo Credit: Steve Voght

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

No More Leniency For "Gothic Kitten" Abuser

Greetings,

Holly Crawford, convicted of animal cruelty for her attempted internet sale of pierced and tail-docked “gothic kittens,” is seeking to re-open her home-based grooming business. The original sentence called for six months of house arrest and an additional twenty-one months of evaluation, during which time the business is to remain closed. Considering Pennsylvania law calls for mandatory jail time, Ms. Crawford has already received a fair amount of leniency from the courts.

Promising to never pierce or tail-dock kittens again, Ms. Crawford is preying on the kindness of the court. During trial, Ms. Crawford did not believe she had done anything wrong, even relaying the belief that her kittens were happy under her care.

As the basis for re-opening her grooming business, Ms. Crawford claims that she is in high demand and hasn’t been able to find other employment. A weak argument, considering Luzerne County has an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. That’s about 30,000 people also looking for work.

Ms. Crawford should count her blessings to still be allowed to have animals of her own. Entrusting the lives of other people’s animals in a basement-run home business is not a gamble that should be bet on. I respectfully ask you to deny Ms. Crawford’s probation petition, allowing her complete evaluation to determine whether she should be allowed to run a business centered on animals.

Thank you,

[Your name]

Press Inquiries