Gracie Giblin, an Australian dance teacher and childcare worker, was identified as the woman who threw a dead kitten, followed by a bunny, at Port Wilcoln Wharf on Tuesday night.
Eyewitnesses recalled the incident, explaining that Giblin first threw a deceased rabbit. Then she drove off, returning 10 minutes later with a dead cat. Both of these animals were claimed to have been run over by her.
Scarlett, a local teenager who was present at the scene, narrates the entire incident in detail.
“She was doing laps around the wharf in her car and she had a bunny in a Woolies bag and I thought it was alive at first,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
“She was swinging it around and laughing and said she had run it over earlier and then just threw it in.”
According to Scarlett, She drove away, coming back 10 minutes later, with another animal that she had hit with her car.
“She drove back yelling out the window, ‘We hit a cat, we hit a cat,’ and then she swaps places with her friend and gets in the passenger seat and she says they are going to get it.”
According to bystanders, Giblin laughed as she drove around with the dead kitten. Credit: The Daily Mail
“I was worried and my friends and I decided to look for it but before we had the chance, she came back hanging it out of the window and swing it around by its tail.”
“It was just a kitten and she was laughing about it.”
“I was just thinking, what kind of person does this. It’s disrespectful and we were absolutely horrified.”
“Some kids were laughing and videoing and she thought it was so funny, so we called the police.”
Giblin had fled by the time the police arrived. Meanwhile, Scarlett and other witnesses gave their statements and handed over any recorded footage.
The bystanders were all left horrified by this incident.
Scarlett was particularly shocked because she knew Giblin was a kind girl from a local dance class. She was left haunted by her cruel actions and claimed that they were vastly different from their last encounter.
“She always had a big smile on her face and was so lovely,” she said.
“I felt so upset by what I had seen that when I got home, I spoke to my dad. The kitten was tabby and we have a tabby cat and I just couldn’t forget it.”
As news of the incident spread, staff from Making a Difference Cat Rescue rushed to the wharf, where two volunteers discovered the “traumatizing” bodies of a kitten and baby rabbit floating.
“They were both still warm and very floppy. The bunny was very young, smaller than the kitten and it was just so awful to see,” said volunteer rescuer Amanda.
The rescuers named the deceased rabbit and kitten Annabelle and Dillon, meaning ray of hope. Their remains have now been handed over to the authorities for further investigation.
Meanwhile, Giblin was taken to the hospital for a mental health assessment.
Her video, which was originally posted on a Facebook group, has gained a lot of attention and backlash from furious Aussies.
“I find this rather sickeningly downright cruel in every aspect!” one viewer wrote.
“Those poor, innocent and defenseless creatures”
Another added: “This is extremely upsetting. That poor kitten that was just a baby and that poor rabbit.”
Her mother agreed the video was rather confronting to watch but proceeded to defend her daughter in the comments.
“It was also not easy for the person going through a mental health crisis,” she wrote.
Many viewers also criticized the onlookers, who watched without intervening.
“The people filming should be punished also for condoning that!! Absolute grubs!” one viewer wrote.
Another added: “I think the people recording and standing around in a circle not doing anything should be questioned.”
The video has now been deleted, with the group claiming that they are in contact with Giblin’s parents and that “direct and decisive action” will be taken. However, until then people have been prompted to refrain from resharing the video while the police and mental health services continued their investigations.
