Like the recession wasn't putting enough of a damper on the holiday season. Now Santa Claus has been brutally attacked. Santa was sitting at a New Jersey PetSmart this weekend when a lady came up and plopped her giant cat in his lap for a picture, because apparently people do that. Santa could barely get out a jolly "You're a husky little guy, aren't you" before the cat went feral and started freaking out worse than Randy from A Christmas Story, clawing ferociously until Santa's palms were shredded and, a local news station reports, "his white Santa gloves became red." It was later deduced that the cat was a bobcat. "It hurt. It had a lot of power in its jaws," said Santa. The horror. We hope he heals in time to drive the sleigh.

Biting bobcat leaves Santa scarred for Christmas [9News.com]