Elderly Man Licking Wounds After Cat Attack
From Reuters
June 2002

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - An elderly Canadian man was said to be recovering on Thursday following a savage attack by his pet cat, which drew four carloads of police, two ambulances and an animal control officer.

The National Post newspaper said Gerard Daigle, 80, lost a pint of blood and required stitches after his cat Touti, a diminutive roughly meaning Tiny, launched a frenzied attack after Daigle, who was apparently giving his pet parrot a shower, inadvertently sprayed the cat with water.

Daigle, who lives in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, could not be reached for comment on Thursday. The newspaper said he was saved by his 81-year-old wife who wrestled the cat away, only to have it turn on her.

"The cat wanted to eat her, too," the paper quoted Daigle as saying.

The couple managed to chase the cat into the bedroom and slam the door. Police responded in force because they thought they were dealing with a domestic emergency.

It is not known why Daigle was giving his parrot a shower.

Response from Michael Walls
June 2002

You know what I find funny, is the line where it says "inadvertently sprayed the cat with water".

Like, the old guy is explaining what happened and he's trying to say it was an accident, and that the cat just freaked on him. I mean, what difference does it make whether he sprayed the cat accidentally or on purpose? I suppose if he sprayed the cat on purpose, the cops would have said, "Oh, well, there you go. You started it. You totally deserved to get slashed!"

(Michael Walls is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine)