Here Kitty, Kitty

Jeffrey Francis Cullen is 59 and really should know better. He lives in Kingman, Arizona and he owns a cat. And a gun. And he drinks. These things don't all mix well.

Last August 17, Mr. Cullen phoned the fire department saying a tree was on fire. A three-man crew responded to his call. They must have noticed a lack of smoke as they approached the reputed scene of the fire because – there was no fire.

Instead of a fire in the tree, the highly trained team found a cat in the tree. Instead of rescuing the cat (or charging the man with calling in a false alarm) they advised the cat owner to call the animal control folks or even to just wait for the cat to get hungry and come down by itself.

Nope. Not Mr. Cullen. His cat was stuck in the tree and the firemen were already there. Something needed to be done.

Mr. Cullen went into the house, retrieved a small handgun and came out shooting. The firemen fled, taking a 12-year-old boy who had come by to check out the cool truck.

When the police arrived, they also did not retrieve the cat from tree. But it now seems there may have been a reason for the cat to flee to the tree. Apparently Mr. Cullen didn't mind shooting guns. At people, anyway. Perhaps the cat was safe. Who can say.

What Mr. Cullen did admit, and this is really not too difficult to comprehend, was that he had been drinking. That probably accounts for the false alarm, the firing of the handgun, and his inability to hit anything.

Mr. Cullen received a five month jail term along with five years of "intensive probation." This is a way to cut down on prison enrollment while still keeping a closer eye on criminals. It is similar to house arrest with the individual unable to leave home for unnecessary trips, doing community service work, and paying restitution for criminal behaviors.

Mr. Cullen could have received 3.5 years for each count but was given the lesser sentence instead.

One can only hope that he doesn't share his drinks with his cat.