(Click here to watch if video doesn't load)
Yesterday I shared a story on Facebook about a 10-year-old Manteo, North Carolina boy named Wendell Overton who received praise from the Outer Banks SPCA after saving a stray cat who was being tortured by a group of bullies.
Overton, who had already been watching out for the black and white kitty around the neighborhood, courageously stepped in when he encountered three youngsters, some as young as five, throwing the cat in the air, running him over with their bikes, and squirting energy drinks in his face.
Wendell and Jackson
Wendell bravely stopped the attack, and brought the ailing feline home to his mother, where the pair took the injured kitty to Roanoke Island Animal Clinic for treatment. The cat, named Jackson, suffered cuts to his paws and nose, but is expected to make a full recovery. He is currently resting comfortably at the Outer Banks SPCA, where he is waiting to be adopted.
Jackson
The story has gained national attention thanks to social media, where the original post has amassed nearly 4,000 likes and hundreds of comments and shares. Last night, WVEC News interviewed Wendell and his mother, Julia, who fought back tears while talking about her son's bravery.
No charges are being filed against the youngsters guilty of the abuse (presumably because of their ages, which are reported to be between 5 and 13), although SPCA officials went to their school, and talked to their parents.
I strive to post only positive stories on Catsparella, but in my quest to find new content, it's alarming how many incidents like this come I come across, that don't always have such a happy ending. I think this story teaches us a lot about the need to educate children at a young age about having compassion for animals, and the importance of recognizing and addressing abusive behavior when it starts.
Visit the Outer Banks SPCA Facebook page for continuing updates on this story, and join me in sending Wendell a letter of thanks, to the mailing address provided on their page.
Via WVEC.com
6 comments:
I find stories like this so disturbing - how can children be so evil at such a young age?
What an awesome kid! Yay Wendell!!
Thanks so much for sharing this Stephanie..I somehow missed it on FB.
What a wonderful young man!! Bravo to him and a job well done to his mom!!
As for those torturing the poor kitty.... hopefully they will learn a lesson from this!!
Stephanie, even though the abuse was horrible, and shocking that it was perpetated by children--and no doubt Wendell was not the only witness, yet he was the only one brave and compassionate enough to make them stop--we all need to show support and approval for all people, especially children, who know abuse is wrong and who take steps to protect the innocent. That's the positive in this, and another--when I was growing up, this was what little boys did with any cat they found, and no one saw anything wrong with it. We can celebrate our own evolution in stories like this.
This abuse and any abuse never fails to break my heart in two. I am so grateful that little boy rescued the innocent little one. I have never known nor heard of such abuse by boys as a matter of fact the way it was described in the comment above mine. I hope that is not true. Surely all boys are so cruel? I reared three sons and they were not nor are cruel to animals of any kind.
Wendell is such one brave and kind-hearted boy that kids should follow.
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