VIRGINIA BEACH
Hershey, a 10-year-old Persian cat who his owner says "wouldn't hurt a thing," is recovering this week after a burglar stabbed him repeatedly with a butcher knife.
On Monday afternoon, burglars broke into his family's home and stole money, laptops, video games and other items before stabbing the cat multiple times and fleeing.
Joe Ciccone said his 21-year-old daughter returned home around 2:30 p.m. and found Hershey lying in a utility room with an 8-inch butcher knife buried in his body.
She took him to the veterinarian where, after surgery, a blood transfusion and other procedures, he survived.
"It's a miracle," Joe Ciccone said. "Nobody can believe this cat is surviving."
Hershey was already walking Thursday and may be able to return home from the hospital today, Ciccone said.
But the burglary and attack have devastated the family, Ciccone said. Hershey's vet bills alone total roughly $3,000.
"They devastated us financially," Ciccone said. "They took everything."
Ciccone said he thinks the burglars were already in the family's home in the 2000 block of Meadow Crest Way when he and his 13-year-old daughter stopped by around 11:30 a.m. to pick up her pompoms for cheerleading practice.
He said he noticed the family's Wii video game system was packed in a bag on the kitchen floor but thought one of his three children had left it there. Now he thinks the burglars packed it.
Neighbors said they saw one of the men and provided a description to police for a sketch composite. The Police Department's Property Crimes Unit and Animal Control are investigating. No arrests had been made Thursday.
Police ask that anyone with information about this incident call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (562-5887).
The Humane Society of the United States and the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are offering additional rewards totaling $3,000.
"It's a bunch of cowards," Ciccone said of the burglars. "I don't know why anybody would want to come in and hurt a defenseless animal like that."
"It's heinous."
Abbey Animal Hospital is collecting donations to pay for Hershey's veterinary bills. For more information, call (757) 471-1003.
Donations can also be made by contacting a branch of the Virginia Beach Schools Federal Credit Union. The account is in Hershey's name.
Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com
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evidence?
Were the cats claws checked for human tissue or hair?
Cat Claws
Were the cats claws checked for human tissue or hair?
Thats pretty funny. As soon as you send them a check to take care of the cost, I am sure they will get right on it.
TGIF
Wow - just terrible
So sorry for the horrible burglary, but glad I'm glad your cat survived.
Media doesn't know the difference
It is true media does not know the difference between a robbery,burglary or larceny. I watched and read our local media report on a theft in Virginia Beach where three suspects smashed jewelry cases and fled with Rolex Watches worth thousands of dollars. The reporting media repeatedly referred to the incident as a robbery when in fact it was a Grand Larceny. To be a robbery there has to be the element of a threat or intimidation to the victim to achieve the taking of the victims property. You do not have to show a weapon, the suspect can just say or imply a weapon and can even verbally tell the victim to give up the money or the victim will be harmed and that would qualify as a robbery. Just stealing or fraud is not robbery.
To ediesinger
You are incorrect on your definition of a burglary. Breaking into a car or reaching into a car is not a burglary in Virginia. It has to be a dwelling or business. It also can include an attached garage and there has to be the intent to commit a larceny or a felony.
Hershey
Where can someone make a donation to help with the vet bills?
I hope they...
I hope they catch the creep(s) and throw the book at him. It's bad enough to invade someone's home, but to stab a defenseless animal in the process is just plain sickening.
A Cat ????
I'm telling you, the America has gone to crap!!! A Cat???? Are you Kidding??? Arm yourselves and start shootng back, maybe the thugs will get a clue, as for me, I already carry one.
Alarm system!
I'm posting this again since he was blocked by the same ole same ole bias moderators. So here goes again. All this could very well have been avoided with home security system. Why did this Burglary get reported in the first place when scores of them are happening every day? Why? because a cat was involved? It could have very well have been a family member. Get a alarm system for your house. This was another stupid story that the pilot does just to fill up space.
Probably will get deleted, but will keep on trying.
dog bites man vs man bites
dog bites man vs man bites dog. Get it? Calm down
as someone who worked in law enforcement...
Most alarms don't catch anyone and often times someone else shows up at home and calls before the alarm company even calls the police. While it can't HURT to have an alarm system, it's mostly pointless.
Your are, of course, correct
I work for a security company. My main reason for employment is to install home and business security systems and since the bottom dropped out of the economy, business is good.
Mostly, all these systems do is make the home/business owner think that they are protected...and reduce the property insurance. The expanded systems, the ones that have cameras installed on the outside of the building/garage are better; if the people breaking into the building fail to steal the computer, sometimes an ID can be made.
The weak link in a home protection system is the alarm company; do they call the local PD and report the alarm or do they send a security guard to the address to "assess the situation"?
The best security systems that know of is a nosey neighbor, or a flock of geese.
And the Good News is........
At least no one will be able to play the race card in this crime. (Poor Kitty)
unless...
Unless the criminal turns out to be a local celebrity... Then folks may play the race card and Portsmouth might just throw the thug a party!
I have had the pleasure of
I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Ciccone. I came to know him for his smile and friendliness while we were both working at a local mall during the holidays. Not that it's alright in any case, I can't imagine anyone who deserves this less than Mr. Ciccone and his family. I wish Hershey a quick and speedy recovery, and I hope the perpetrator is caught and punished to the full extent of the law.
We are imploding as a society
When humans hurt defenseless animals, even killing them in some cases (I think of things like the kitten thrown from a car into traffic on 17 last year and Michael Vick's disgusting legacy), we are in trouble as a society.
This is the nation we've created folks. We are a poor excuse for humanity, a nation heading toward a welfare state, and a country with a Muslim/Marxist in the White House that wants to destroy the ENTIRE nation.
I've said it before, actually said it on the golf course the other day: "I'm VERY glad I'm 42 and not 22." The young in this country don't stand much of a chance, much like animals, when we churn out butchers like the piece of garbage that perpetrated this crime. Our society is spinning out of control, and we're helping it get there.... quickly!
God help this country; God bless the USA!
Gettingitright gets it wrong
President Obama has only been in office for 8 months and you're blaming him because some worthless scumwad stabbed a cat during a burglary?!? To quote one of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher, "I see someone had a nice big bowl of Fanatic-Os this morning." Seriously, get a grip. Scum like this have been hurting animals for hundreds of years - why do you think the ASPCA was founded(in 1866, incidentally, long before Obama took office)? Crime has also been around since the dawn of time, and will continue to exist as long as there are thugs with an entitlement mentality who don't respect the rule of law.
And this, "...and a country with a Muslim/Marxist in the White House that wants to destroy the ENTIRE nation," is so utterly ridiculous it doesn't deserve a reply except to note that all that tinfoil must really get hot after a while.
No alarm?
Amazing this story made the news. Especially when scores of burglars are hitting homes each week. Get a alarm system for your house. It very well could have been a family member. And guess what? Every hood on the street carries a gun.
Not a family member
The composite sketch of the intruder, as provided by a neighbor who saw him, does not resemble a family member in this case.
Clarence your post is not quite correct.
Clarence you are wrong about the definition of a burglary. You can reach into a car window and punch someone and be accused of burglary. You don't have to actually take anything. Ronald Cummings,the father of the missing child Haleigh Cummings in Satsuma Florida was charged with burglary about 2 weeks ago because he reached into his brother in law's car window and punched him.
Here is the definition of burglary:
circa 1523 the act of breaking and entering a dwelling at night to commit a felony (as theft) broadly the entering of a building with the intent to commit a crime