if someone I didn't know were to name their cat, say, "Sh*thead",
I would be alert to potential animal abuse or neglect, as such a
name *might* (I emphasize "might", because it might not) indicate
a nasty attitude toward the cat. I would be far more concerned
about that than about the name itself.

Like when a colleague of mine found a stray cat on his doorstep
with a label on his collar saying "My name is ****face and I live
on the motorway".

It's hard to imagine how anybody could do that, I would guess the
result of a relationship breakup.

Happy ending anyway, my co-worker adopted the cat.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557