A cat belonging to a state Democratic campaign manager has been found dead with the word ‘liberal’ spray-painted across its side.
The mixed-breed Siamese cat was owned by Jake Burris, who is managing Arkansas Democrat Ken Aden’s bid for the third Congressional District.
The pet had one side of its head bashed in so far that its ‘eyeball was barely hanging from its socket’, an Aden campaign press release said.
Mr Burris was returning to his home in Russellville, Arkansas, on Sunday with his four children when he found the dead cat on his doorstep.
Mr Aden is running against incumbent Republican Representative Steve Womack and said that the event was ‘horrible, to say the least’.
‘Thankfully, there are not that many people who want to do something like this,’ Mr Aden said, aspolice opened an animal cruelty investigation.
‘The majority of people in this district are hard-working folks, but you get the occasional crazy individual out there.’
Mr Aden and Mr Burris said they do not believe Mr Womack or his re-election campaign were involved in the incident.
‘To kill a child’s pet is just unconscionable,’ Mr Aden said. Mr Burris has been Mr Aden’s campaign manager for more than 10 years.
The third District of Arkansas is heavily conservative Republican and has been held by a Republican since the 1966 election.
Mr Womack – whose campaign also denounced the violence – first won the congressional seat two years ago with 72 per cent of the vote.
‘The thought of brutalizing any animal for the sake of making a political statement is beyond any standard of decency,’ his chief of staff Beau Walker said.
‘The person or people responsible for this act should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.’
The incident was first reported on the Blue Arkansas blog, run by law student and activist David McAvoy, who said what happened was ‘chilling’.
‘I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it,’ Mr Burris told the blog. ‘If I have to protect my kids I’ll do it without hesitation.’
