2012-01-23 "Cat Murdered; “Liberal” Painted On Dead Body" by Judy Molland
[http://www.care2.com/causes/cat-murdered-liberal-painted-on-dead-body.html]
The campaign manager of Arkansas Democratic congressional candidate Ken Aden arrived home on Sunday [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/23/409443/arkansas-democratic-campaign-manager-comes-home-to-find-childs-cat-murdered-liberal-written-on-dead-bo] to find his children’s pet cat murdered on the front porch with the word “LIBERAL” scrawled across its lifeless body.
Aden’s campaign manager, Jake Burris, lives in central Arkansas with his four kids. Burris said that they found the cat on the porch of his Russellville home. A spokesman with the Russellville Police Department confirmed that Burris had filed a report, but said the department did not have any suspects.

Aden The Only Democrat Running In A Republican Stronghold -
Pope County is a highly conservative area of Arkansas. Aden, the former director of a West Memphis nonprofit, is the only Democrat running for the 3rd congressional seat held by freshman Republican Representative Steve Womack since August 2011.
Here is a press release from Ken Aden’s campaign website [http://aden4arkansas.com/?p=964]:
[begin excerpt]
On the heels of a weekend of positive news coverage for the campaign of Democratic Congressional candidate Ken Aden, Aden’s campaign manager returned home to find his family pet slaughtered, with the word “liberal” painted on the animal’s corpse.
The Russellville Police Department is investigating, and a report will be made to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday morning.
Jacob Burris, who has served as Aden’s campaign manager since late October, arrived home with his family Sunday evening, and his four children discovered the gruesome scene as they exited the family vehicle to enter their home.
The family pet, an adult, mixed-breed Siamese cat, had one side of its head bashed in to the point the cat’s eyeball was barely hanging from its socket. The perpetrators scrawled “liberal” across the cat’s body and left it on the doorstep of Burris’ house.
[end excerpt]
You can click here to see a photo of the murdered cat [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/01/23/409443/arkansas-democratic-campaign-manager-comes-home-to-find-childs-cat-murdered-liberal-written-on-dead-body/?mobile=nc].
 

Politically Motivated Pet Killings? -
Politically motivated pet killings? What on earth did this poor cat do to deserve such a fate? What did he know about politics?
Burris’s kids found their pet in this state simply because their dad is the campaign manager for a Democrat in a heavily conservative state.
This is a despicable, heinous act that could only have been carried by a sick coward.

“To Kill A Child’s Pet Is Just Unconscionable” -
From todaystv.com in Russellville, Ken Aden sums it up [http://russellville.todaysthv.com/news/news/84214-congressional-campaign-managers-cat-killed-liberal-painted-it]:
[begin excerpt]
“To kill a child’s pet is just unconscionable,” Aden said Monday morning. “As a former combat soldier, I’ve seen the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. Whoever did this is definitely part of the worst of humanity,” he said.
“It is one thing to engage in civil political discourse, and for Republicans and Democrats to disagree with each other, which is an expected part of the political process. Taking it to this level is beyond unacceptable,” Aden said.
[end excerpt]
Yes, it is. Let’s hope the perpetrator of this horrible act faces justice.