April has been quite the month for Internet memes. Latest issue to hit my relevant sphere – the NIP cat killer.

Short version: A student at the NIP of UP Diliman murdered a sort of college pet cat all because he has a seething hatred for the species. Story leaked to the Internet. Kid even posted a nonchalant “confession” on his blog. He even says it’s not the first (and last!) time he’ll be murdering a cat. Now, everyone’s just out for his blood.

I first got the story from former student BA, an NIP student himself. You can check out these two Plurk threads from dementia (here and here) for the updates.

It’s a sad sight seeing UP student(s?) devolve to a lynch mob on the Internet (though it’s nice to see that some are acting with much needed reason). But don’t you think this poster is tasteless if not extreme given the case?

I have to say it, but if there’s someone worth lynching, let’s look for someone who really deserves it. I love furry little creatures (except if they’re rabid) and we even recently adopted a cute li’l kitty from BA (what a coincidence!) but this kind of action against the kid’s crimes is not the best course of action. Not even a good course of action.

The DSM cites this kind of behavior as a symptom of many mental disorders so it’s highly possible that this kid needs guidance. Cases should be filed at appropriate offices (NIP/CS Dean’s Office, Student Disciplinary Tribunal, UP Diliman Police) since he violated a national law on animal welfare. But it is also important to get the kid some help and this public lynching is definitely of no help at all.

If you have any news regarding the courses of action put forward to resolve this issue, please enlighten me. I’m getting tired of reading Plurk threads.

PS. Now I find my “murdering kittens” quip in a previous blog post on linguistic prescriptivism quite iffy.

Check out these other posts:

1. Apathy towards the NBN scandal?
2. Ikaw mismo
3. UP Diliman Main Library offer access to more electronic resources
4. A few new insights on blogging for literacy in the Philippine context
5. Noob.Killer update