Judge Dismisses Misdemeanor Meow Case


Dec 12, 4:17 PM (ET)


JEANNETTE, Pennsylvania (AP) - You could say it was the purr-fect ending a 14-year-old boy wanted. A judge on Monday dismissed a harassment charge against the teenager, who was accused of repeatedly "meowing" at his neighbor, 78-year-old Alexandra Carasia.

The judge reprimanded the boy, telling him he was immature and should have used better judgment, but decided no criminal charges were warranted.

The boy's family and Carasia do not get along. The boy's mother said the family got rid of their cat after Carasia complained to police it used her flower garden as a litter box.

The boy said he only meowed at the woman twice; Carasia testified that he did so every time he saw her.

The judge heard the case Aug. 22, but decided to wait 90 days before ruling to see how the boy and Carasia got along.

Carasia was satisfied with the reprimand.

kitty vs bitty

"I'm just glad he at least reprimanded him," she said. "He used to be a good boy. It has done emotional harm to me. ... I was the one who was tortured."

The boy's mother said the case should have been dismissed in August.

At least this meowing boy story was much more lucid than "The Grudge"..And by that I mean lucid at all..

And the old bat harassing the family to the point of giving the cat away didn't do any emotional harm to the young boy?

I would have done worse to the old lady than meow at her if she made me get rid of my cat. How does a 14 year old meowing at a 70 year old cause emotional damage? It wasn't her cat that was given away.

I hope when I'm 78 that I don't consider a 14 y/o meowing at me to be "torture".

This thread damaged me emotionally. I once had a cop meow at me like in that movie Super Troopers. I wasn't amused.

I meow all the time...

This reminds me that sometimes my brother will just randomly meow while he's at work.

i'd sh** in her garden

.. that's funny ... he should have went up to her and started purring.

While finding cat poop in your garden is not fun, it seems to me that a different solution could have been found. The cat could have been kept indoors. And, really, if this lady is 70 yrs old, how much gardening could she do? I don't mean to be agist, but really. And aren't there ways to keep cats from digging in gardens?

Both my cats are indoors only. If they really loved the cat and wanted to keep it, there's the problem solved right there.

Emotional damage? That's the stupidist thing, I've heard, I know people in my area who has said dumber things, than what that old lady said about the cat.

I can't believe she filed charges, though...

When you force a family with kids to get rid of a loved pet, expect some slight rudeness whenever you see them.

Jeez.