The animal is pictured on the site with two 14-gauge ear piercing's and a "submission ring" through the back of its neck.

  (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press - Gothic kitten with pierced ring on back of neck)

The owner asked for offers over $400 for the kitten, the jewelry and a silk submission lead to clip onto the neck ring.

Morrison said the kittens would be checked over by a vet before a decision is made on whether they will be placed in new homes.

The woman, who had a pet grooming business in the basement of her home, is expected to face charges.

Update 1/21/09:  The black kittens that were mutilated and then auctioned online as “gothic” cried in pain each time they were pierced with 14-gauge jewelry, yet their marketers were eager “to get this aspect of their business up and running,” according to charges filed.

Humane officers have filed charges against Holly Crawford and William Blansett, operators of a grooming business known as Pawside Parlor in Ross Township.

Crawford, 34, and Blansett, 37, each face six counts of cruelty to animals and three counts of criminal conspiracy, according to charges filed this week with Magisterial District Judge John Hasay in Shickshinny.

Charges stem from a search warrant executed Dec. 17 at Crawford’s 71 Dobson Road home, where the business was based.

Animal control officers and state police located three abused kittens and two more that might have been next. The kittens had their ears pierced with 14-gauge jewelry, a standard size for eyebrow and bellybutton piercing's in humans. It caused their ears to flop. Their necks were pierced with submission rings. Most shocking to humane officers, their tails were missing and the remaining nub was pierced.

Arrest papers say Crawford and Blansett bragged they would put “a rubber band tightly around the base of the tail to stop circulation to the tail, which eventually falls off.” Blansett, of 188 Gordon Road, Sweet Valley, described it as a “castrating band,” police said. Crawford told the official “the kittens cried when she pierced them, but seemed fine afterward,” arrest papers say.

Members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the case to the attention of local investigators after seeing an advertisement for “gothic kittens” on the online auction site eBay. One PETA official, acting as a possible buyer, visited the home on Dec. 16. The suspects displayed the mutilated kittens and told the official about how they planned to obtain and disfigure more of the cats to sell, arrest papers say.

Humane officers with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Luzerne County, along with state police, served a search warrant on Crawford’s home on Dec. 17. Five cats, including the three that were mutilated, were seized.

The cats are now healthy and doing fine at the SPCA shelter in Plains Township, said shelter manager Cindy Starke.

As evidence, the cats will remain in the SPCA’s care until the disposition of the case. A judge will then decide what happens to them, Clarke said.

The charges against Crawford and Blansett were mailed to them via summons. They will be scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Luzerne County Central Court. If convicted, they face fines, probation and possible jail time.

Update 1/22/09:  A woman who marketed "gothic kittens" with ear, neck and tail piercing's over the Internet has been charged with animal cruelty and conspiracy.

Crawford has said she will plead innocent.  Crawford told The Associated Press that she didn't see any difference between piercing a cat and piercing a human. She said she used sterile needles and surgical soap and that she checked the kittens several times a day to make sure they were healing properly.

"When I did it, it wasn't with any cruel intentions," said Crawford, of rural Ross Township. "They were definitely loved, well-fed, no fleas, clipped nails. And they were happy."

Daphna Nachminovitch, a vice president for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, called the piercing's"barbaric."  "There's no excuse for inflicting such pain on an animal that's the size of your palm," she said.

  (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press - "A kitten with body piercing's is seen after it was taken from the home of a Pennsylvania breeder who was marketing the cats as “gothic kittens.”

SPCA Officer Carol Morrison said the kittens had 14-gauge piercing's through their ears and submission rings at the napes of their necks. One kitten's tail was docked.

Crawford, who sports her own body piercing's, said she decided on a whim to pierce the ears and neck of a stray kitten she took in last fall and named Snarley Monster. She said she docked the cat's tail because it was badly damaged and that the animal was not intended for sale.

Morrison charged Crawford and William Blansett, 37, of Sweet Valley, each with three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, three summary counts of cruelty and three counts of conspiracy.

Crawford said Blansett helped take calls about the kittens but that he had nothing to do with the piercing's

Crawford said her dog-grooming business, Pawside Parlor, has plummeted since the raid and that she has received dozens of nasty phone calls.  "My name's ruined, my reputation's ruined, my business is ruined," she said.