Jackson Galaxy’s cat shaming was unexpected.
The caption Galaxy wrote: “If I can’t see unsee this then you can’t either.” It pictures Galaxy covering his mouth in false-shock. What resulted was likely thousands looking at this cat’s hairy body, fat-shamed by the famed cat behaviorist on Galxy’s public Snapchat.
The backlash was strong — Galaxy has been now banned from PetSmarts nationwide and predictably lambasted on the Internet.
That’s because once the store banned Galaxy, they then notified the Los Angeles Police Department that he had photographed a cat in its store. That’s strictly prohibited, according to the store’s website.
“His behavior is appalling and puts every pet entering our stores at risk of losing their privacy,” said Jill Greenville, the company’s executive vice president of operations.
Los Angeles Police Capt. Alexander Neiman said they received a report of “illegal distribution” of the image from the international pet store chain. Detectives from the LAPD’s west division animal cruelty section are investigating.
“Our written rules are very clear: Cellphone usage and photography are prohibited in the store aisles and grooming areas,” Greenville said. “This is not only our rule, but common decency. Common human decency, which Mr. Galaxy, if that is his real name, failed to exhibit in this instance.”
Galaxy’s action was illegal under California law. A section of the state penal code revised in 2014 said it is a misdemeanor to look “with the intent to invade the privacy of anyone” in places like a pet store, where one has “a reasonable expectation of privacy,” with a camera. Under this law, it is illegal generally to distribute an image of the “intimate body part or parts” of someone “without the consent of or knowledge of that other someone.”
Under that law, Galaxy could be charged in the state of California with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor that can include a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail.
Meeeeoooow, Mr. Galaxy!