New Brunswick woman fed up with animal cruelty posts graphic photos online

Elderly folks were in tears last week when they found a dead cat hanging from a tree outside their retirement home in Richibucto.

That's when Nicole Thebeau knew she had to do something drastic.

So she posted the gruesome picture of the cat along with another of a cat tortured to death with tape over its mouth to her Facebook page.

They have since been removed, but Thebeau says she got her point across.

'I want something done'

"I know I got a few people mad at me for posting the pictures, but that's OK, I'm not doing it to get everybody's approval, I'm doing it because I care for the animals and I want something done."

Eleven years ago, Thebeau started a Facebook group called the Kent County Animal Rescue League. Since then, she says, she has rescued or buried thousands of animals.

But, unfortunately, she says the message still isn't getting through.

The latest incident happened last week when she got the call about the dead cat hanging from a tree near the seniors home in Richibucto.

RCMP found boy who did it

"I rushed over, and found the cat basically tied up there to the tree with a chainand hung. At the bottom of the tree was a piece of wood. And the wood was full of blood.

"Older people from the home were standing there, crying, just by the sight of it."

Richibucto RCMP arrived, took pictures, questioned neighboursand found the boy who did it, Thebeau said. She guesses the boy was around seven.

"They are getting the social services involved because they cannot charge the child with anything, so the best thing to do is try to get him some help," she said.

Cat's mouth taped shut

The other picture she posted was from Bouctouche a couple months ago. The cat's mouth had been taped shut with electrical tapeand its back legs wired together. It was dead.

"I was heartbroken. I couldn't imagine the torture that cat went through."

When Thebeau was called to the scene, she says she was shocked to find out the perpetrator is believed to be thesame man she had tried to get charged for severely beating his dog. The cat was tortured, Thebeau alleges, because a man wanted to get back at the girlfriend who left him.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, this is the same guy that I've been trying to get charged for the past year, and nothing's being done. Now he's going from bad to worse.'"

Thebeau said she took the cat home to give it a proper burial.

No regrets about posting pictures

Last week, she decided to post the pictures to Facebook. And she has no regrets.

"There's nothing being done to stop this from keep happening and we've got to figure out a way to get it to stop. And if it takes me showing all the pictures, and showing the real nasty stuff to people, I'll do it."