A Frozen Food Purveyor Knowingly Condemns Frosty to Spend Five Weeks in Its -28° Fahrenheit Warehouse Without Either Food or Water

"It's extremely cold in there. We were surprised that he survived. He's a very lucky boy. He was very frightened and obviously freezing cold."
-- Spokesman for the unidentified frozen food warehouse

In yet still another utterly appalling example of how capitalists, the phony-baloney RSPCA, and the English press treat cats, a one-year-old tuxedo named Frosty was knowingly left to languish without either food or water in a frozen food warehouse for close to five weeks during January and February. Against all odds, he somehow survived although the -28° Fahrenheit temperature inside the facility cost him both ears and his tail.

Other than his ironclad will to live, it is theorized that Frosty survived by eating frozen peas and licking condensation off the outside of packages. (See photo above.)

In the massive media-orchestrated cover-up that has ensued, at least three contradictory and severely redacted versions of events have surfaced. Most notably, neither the Leicester Mercury, the Daily Mail, nor the RSPCA have been willing to identify the warehouse which so callously allowed Frosty to needlessly suffer in agony for such an extended period of time.

The Mercury has categorically refused even to disclose its location whereas all the Daily Mail has had to say on this vitally important subject is that it is located in Northamptonshire. Therefore, about the only thing that can be surmised is that the warehouse is located somewhere in the East Midlands.

Even the long overdue rescue itself is cloaked in secrecy. The Mercury has reported that Frosty was saved by the staff of the warehouse whereas according to the Daily Mail he was trapped by the RSPCA. On its web site, the RSPCA states only that he "was finally rescued and brought to" its Woodside Animal Center in Leicester. (See photo below.)

Even if the RSPCA was responsible for trapping Frosty it did so in a callous, lackadaisical manner by setting out a baited trap and leaving it unattended overnight. Considering Frosty's weakened condition, it is a wonder that the stress brought on by being left overnight in a cage did not finish off the job started by the cold and starvation.

At the very least, the laggards at the RSPCA should have checked the trap every few hours or so. That is what they get paid to do and saving the life of a cat in distress is certainly worth losing a few winks.

Apparently Frosty arrived at the facility as a stowaway aboard one of the delivery trucks and thereafter either escaped or was purposefully abandoned by a driver. The latter scenario would not be unusual in that scores of individuals abandon cats in the cold without so much as a second thought. (See Cat Defender posts of December 9, 2008 and January 13, 2006 entitled, respectively, "Shaved from Head to Tail and Left to Freeze to Death in the Ontario Cold, Chopper Is Saved at the Last Minute" and "Montana Firefighters Rescue 'Lucky' Calico Cat Who Was Caged and Purposefully Thrown into an Icy River.")

Although the doors to the facility often were left open in order to facilitate arriving and departing lorries, Frosty apparently was too frightened by all the hustle and bustle in order to make a break for freedom. Employees of the facility likewise apparently were either too lazy or ailurophobic to even chase him out into the warmth of the sun.

"It's extremely cold in there," a spokesman for the warehouse superfluously pointed out to the Mercury on March 4th. (See "Cat Trapped in Freezing Food Warehouse for Weeks.") "We were surprised that he survived. He's a very lucky boy. He was very frightened and obviously freezing cold."

Statements such as that constitute a prima facie case that the warehouse was intent upon freezing and starving Frosty to death from the get-go. Furthermore, they go a long way toward explaining why it so steadfastly refused to put out both food and water for him once his presence was detected.

According to the RSPCA's web site, Frosty is recuperating at its shelter in Leicester where he still is listed as its "Pet of the Week." "When he came to us he was pretty shy, which isn't surprising considering the ordeal he'd been through," the organization's Rachel Allcock told the Mercury in the article cited supra. "He's a lovely cat and he's become very playful."

As outrageous and irresponsible as it sounds, the RSPCA plans to allow one of the warehouse workers who hideously ignored his plight for five weeks to adopt Frosty! That should not be permitted to take place under any circumstances.

Because of their past neglect, no one associated with the warehouse should be allowed within ten feet of Frosty. He needs and deserves a loving home where not only his basic needs are met but his disabilities are addressed as well.

Moreover, if the RSPCA and other humane organizations were doing their jobs the warehouse would be charged with animal cruelty and forced to answer for its outrageous behavior in a court of law. Instead, it is being rewarded with custody of the cat that it did everything in its power to kill.

Of course, it is generally recognized by the cognoscenti that the RSPCA, like PETA and the Humane Society of the United States, is a fraud. Among its numerous crimes, it picks up domestic cats off the street and kills them without cause and sits idly by while world-renown cats are left to gambol in dangerously busy streets. (See Cat Defender posts of June 5, 2007 and January 30, 2010 entitled, respectively, "RSPCA's Unlawful Seizure and Senseless Killing of Mork Leaves His Sister, Mindy, Brokenhearted and His Caretakers Devastated" and "Casper Is Run Down and Killed by a Hit-and-Run Taxi Driver while Crossing the Street in Order to Get to the Bus Stop.")

Frosty to date has racked up a veterinary tab in excess of five-hundred pounds sterling (US$762) and, not surprisingly, the RSPCA is begging the public to foot the bill for its and the warehouse's gross negligence. For whatever it is worth, employees of the facility have passed the hat but, true to form, they are keeping mum about how much money was collected.

A few choice words also are in order for the English media. First of all, it is inexcusable for the Mercury and the Daily Mail to shield the warehouse from public censure. It should be named, shamed, and its products boycotted.

Secondly, it would not kill the press to occasionally do something other than parrot the Establishment's propaganda. Unfortunately, that most likely is asking too much of a business that only employs conservatives and sycophants.

Furthermore, this is not an isolated case. Shipping companies and warehouses doom large numbers of cats to prolonged suffering and often agonizing deaths each year because of either carelessness or rabid ailurophobia. (See Cat Defender posts of August 18, 2008, August 11, 2008, April 25, 2008, May 17, 2007, and December 9, 2005 entitled, respectively, "Ronaldo Escapes Death after Retailer Coughs Up the Exorbitant Bounty That Quarantine Officials Had Placed on His Head," "Trapped Inside a Crate, Ginger Licks Up Condensation in Order to Survive a Nightmarish Sea Voyage from China to Nottinghamshire," "After Surviving a Lengthy and Hellish Confinement at Sea, Malli Dies Unexpectedly in Foster Care," "North Carolina Shelter Plotting to Kill Cat That Survived Being Trapped for Thirty-Five Days in Cargo Hold of Ship from China," and "Adventurous Wisconsin Cat Named Emily Makes Unscheduled Trip to France in Hold of Cargo Ship.")

In conclusion, since the RSPCA has not uttered so much as a solitary syllable concerning Frosty's prognosis, the public has been left in the dark. The best that therefore can be hoped for is that his hearing is still intact despite the loss of his external ears.

Unfortunately, his internal ears are now more than ever exposed to the elements, parasites, and sharp objects. Prosthetics are a possibility but their implantation would entail not only considerable cost but additional surgeries as well.

Moreover, considering all the scratching that a cat does, the implants would need to be especially durable. The healing process that follows such a procedure also would require that he be fitted with a cumbersome Elizabethan collar for an extended period of time.

The loss of his tail will hinder his balance and jumping ability as well as eliminate a valuable tool in the fight against bothersome insects. Nevertheless, many bobtailed cats get along just fine.

In the photographs released so far, he also appears to have sustained frostbite to his nose and the same is likely true for his paws as well. Worst of all, he may have suffered internal injuries that the RSPCA has not disclosed to the public. It therefore is imperative that he be placed in a home where his health will be closely monitored for the foreseeable future.

As amazing as it is that Frosty survived such a hellish ordeal, it is even more staggering how anybody or group of individuals could have knowingly committed such an atrocity. That is not right and neither the warehouse nor the RSPCA should be permitted to get away with their outrageous criminal behavior.

While it is not possible at this time to contact the warehouse, the Leicester chapter of the RSPCA can be given an earful by snail mail at 190 Scudamore Road, Leicester LE3 1UQ or by e-mail at info@rspcaleicester.org.uk.

Photos: Daily Mail and SWNS (Frosty) and Leicester RSPCA (shelter).