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Animal abuse: when will it be taken seriously?

You’ve probably heard the names of Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy; All the names of notorious killers and what do they all have in common? They started out as animal abusers. What about the names? Kip Kinkle and Luke Woodham or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold? Not so well known except in some circles and in the minds and memories of his victims and families. These two pairs of names belong to teenagers who kept killing spree, the second pair being the infamous Columbine High School killers. What do they all have in common? They all tortured and killed animals, sometimes showing off to their friends. Now what about the names? Dasha Lombard, James Manzanares and Nicholas Stogdon? Probably not, unless you live in Alamogordo, MN and know them or are paying attention to the news in the late spring of this year 2007. There are three ‘boys’, ages 15, 14 and 13, at the time, who They found a wandering puppy and decided to have fun. They closed the dog’s snout with packing tape, stabbed her with a knife and screwdriver, and proceeded to drop a 40-pound concrete block on her. When asked about it, the answer was, “It was just a fucking dog!” These ‘children’ were not affected at all by the torture they inflicted on this innocent and defenseless animal.

And this was not the first brush with the law for any of them. These three teens are not new to their antisocial behavior. Lombard was charged with having a deadly weapon on school property, charged with criminal damage to property when he allegedly spray painted an elementary school playground, previous charges include robbing and resisting, evading and obstructing an officer as well as numerous incidents of trouble at school. , usually involving verbally abusive teachers. Manzanares’s record includes shoplifting (including an incident in which he was with co-defendant Stogdon), disorderly conduct, theft, receiving stolen property and robbery. Stogdon was accused several times of theft; twice for assault on a member of the household; for fleeing; and for theft.

There was a case in Macon, GA, earlier this year, in which three children, two 14 years old and one 13 year old, burned two dogs to death. Before this, they had been in trouble with the law and after their arrests, but while in the custody of their parents, they proceeded to commit other crimes. Each of these children was sentenced to 60 days in detention. That’s it, just 60 days in detention!

Then we have one of the last to add to this list of ‘kids’ versus animal horrors. A 5-month-old Chihuahua mix, Tobey, was stolen from his own yard in Guadalupe County, Texas by three ‘children’. The 12, 14, and 16-year-old boys took this puppy to an abandoned house and proceeded to throw the puppy out of a second-story window several times until his hind legs were broken, hung from a tree by those shattered and broken legs. . beat it with a board studded with nails, set it on fire, and finally cut off its head. The children were arrested on the spot and when questioned, they showed no remorse for the torture they inflicted on this little cub. At most, these three boys will remain in juvenile detention until the age of nineteen.

These are just a few of the many, many incidents that exist and these are just juvenile cases. You can bet that in the future you will hear about some of them again. Their names and faces will grace the covers and they will be the main story in the news and their crimes will not only be against animals but against people.

Every day I hear stories of animal abusers who are given such lenient sentences that people who find out are shocked and angry;

Charles J. Friel III, 22, of Allen Street in Philadelphia beat a dog in his care and left it chained to a tree with broken skull and ribs to suffer and die a horrible death last year and was sentenced to conditional freedom.

John W. Meyer, 41, of Shotkoski Drive in Hoffman Estates, IL, killed a puppy for urinating on the carpet. He threw a 7-month-old, 4-pound Chihuahua 14 feet across the room against a wall and then slapped the little dog so hard he broke its leg, all in front of two children and was sentenced to probation.

Marlene S. Diaz, 24, of Cooper Street in Manchester, Connecticut, had a tiny Chihuahua locked in the basement for so long and in such dire condition that when she found the dog’s path after an anonymous tip from a Connecticut employee Natural Gas, it weighed about a third of what it should have weighed. She was nothing more than a fur-covered skeleton and a vet had no choice but to euthanize the dog due to the severity of her condition. Díaz was sentenced to probation.

Maryanne Adams of Greenwood Lake, NY starved a dog to death. A beautiful St. Bernard husky mix that he adopted from humane society was left in the yard, no food, no water, freezing, to die a horrible death. And his sentence, community service! Warwick Town Judge Daniel Coleman didn’t even care enough to give him parole, let alone an actual sentence!

These are just a few cases in which the criminals were identified and convicted. They are all a matter of public domain. But what about all the cases of animal cruelty and abuse in which no one is ever identified? Monsters still walk the streets free to inflict their atrocities on other animals or to reach human victims.

Laws that attack animal abusers too often are too lenient, too vague, or not enforced. There are still 7 states that don’t even have felony animal cruelty provisions; Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah. There are still two states that do not have felony provisions for dog fighting; Idaho and Wyoming.

These are not opinions, they are facts! And it is also a fact that there is a strong and indisputable correlation between animal abuse and interpersonal violence. This is one of the main reasons why animal abusers should be treated harshly, not only because of the cruelties inflicted on innocent and defenseless animals, which is certainly bad enough, but because of the cruelties that many of these abusers will continue to inflict. to the animals. human victims.

Isn’t it about time our judicial system and our legislators started taking animal abuse seriously? It is time to stand up and speak for those who do not have a voice to speak for themselves! It is time to demand justice for the innocent victims!

Will you sit back and like so many people just ignore it because you think it doesn’t involve you, or will you stand up and take action? Do not wait until it is too late and it is your beloved pet or perhaps your child, spouse, parent or family member who is affected. Write, call, email and fax your legislators and demand a change. Isn’t it time to get serious about animal abuse?

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