After cheering the heroes for abused and neglected creatures, the animal cops, the humane societies, the adoptions, we demand justice. That’s the American way. The story usually ends, though, and if convicted for animal cruelty, s/he could face prison and a fine.
The big IF sent me searching for that justice. It’s almost a joke.
Here’s an sampling of cases around the country in 2006. (Circus animals, roadside zoos, agricultural animals raised for food, and illegal wildlife trade deserve separate diaries).
First off, animal cruelty is a misdemeanor, not a felony at all in eight states: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah. Recent high-profile cases may spur changes.
- In Utah, a man who blinded the family chihuahua with a leaf blower, and burned him by putting him in a 200 degree oven for five minutes, was sentenced to six months jail, a mental health evaluation, forbidden for two years to have contact wtih any animal, a $500 fine and $986 restitution. The judge did the best he could under the law.
- In Hawaii, a poacher faces felony charges of lifestock theft. With hunting dogs, the poachers had chased the 300 lb. pig into the family’s garage. The helpless owners pleaded for them to stop, that Porky was their pet, but the criminals repeatedly stabbed him to death.
Lots of t.v. coverage may help change the law. - In Idaho, in the largest cat seizure in the state’s history, 177 of the 323 rescued animals had to be euthanized. This kitten mill had a “dead room” containing decomposing cat carcasses and sick cats. The owner pleaded guilty to 51 misdemeanor counts, each carrying a sentence of six months in jail. The prosecutor asked for the maximum. The judge sentenced her to only six months.
Idaho’s off our vacation list. - In Mississippi, two Dobermans were found, one dead and the other emaciated, chained up with no water or food. Their owner, a high school special education instructor, received a 10-day suspended sentence, a $1,000 fine, a year of probation and a permanent ban from owning another pet.
Mississippi justice has that certain rep…
Even in states where animal cruelty is a felony, though, convictions are hard to find. Often they result from guilty pleas rather than trials. Too often, punishment is minimal.
Hoarding
Because hoarders have mental health issues, imprisonment is surprising. A 51-year old woman in Virginia pled down to eight months in jail, restitution, and three years not to own animals. Following a house fire, investigators had found scores of rabbits, many of them kept in filthy metal cages stacked on the attic floor and hanging from rafters. Some were dead, in cages that had no food or water. Rabbit feces measured a foot-and-a-half deep in some places. In 2003 she had been convicted of animal neglect (ferrets), and ordered to counseling. What counseling???
Neglect
The Tazewell County, Virginia animal shelter, takes in 2800 dogs a year, a quarter of them neglected and starved. Long-term neglect becomes abuse. When witnesses are reluctant to become involved, the animal suffers even more, unnecessarily.
Recently, an owner was convicted following the massive and fatal starvation of his bull dog. He was fined $500 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 88 days suspended.
… what added to the cruelty of this case was that neighbors were within 300 yards of where the animal was kept and would easily be able to see his condition and no one reported it.
In Illinois, a dog whose initial owner pleaded guilty to animal cruelty was adopted out by the humane society to a 19-year old man. The new owner left the pitbull to die, muzzled and tied up on an apartment balcony in 90-degree heat. Faced with a charge of aggravated animal cruelty, he pled down to two misdemeanors, and was sentenced to two years of not owning a pet, in addition to a course on humane treatment and drug-and-alcohol evaluation.
Deliberate Cruelty
Given the links between animal abuse and family violence or other criminal activity (e.g., illegal gambling at cock-fights) the good news is an increase in convictions. The bad news is that sentences are too often suspended, made the equivalent of time served.
- In Indiana a man threw someone else’s six-month old Jack Russell terrier off a bridge. He went to jail for nine months.
- In Maryland, a man threw his girlfriend’s four kittens into the fire, to die being burned alive. He was sentenced to 1-1/2 years in jail for aggravated animal cruelty. Then the judge suspended the sentence except for the 134 days already served since the arrest.
- In Los Angeles a man was sentenced to the maximum, NINE years in prison for stabbing his niece’s German shepherd between the eyes for barking. His rap sheet included numerous thefts and weapons violations. (The dog survived, by the way).
- Elsewhere in California a young man confessed to stealing, mutilating, and strangling ten Nigerian dwarf goats on his ex-girlfriend’s family farm. He was sentenced to NINE years in prison.
“It’s probably a good thing that you caught me now,” said 22-year-old Ryan Troyer, according to the report. “I might have started killing people. I’m not saying that I wanted to or had any plans to. I’m just saying.”
A Rocky Mountain of credit is due to the perseverance of animal rights groups. In Canada, where the most punishment is six months in jail and a two thousand dollar fine, petitions are flying to the government to increase the penalties, driven by the case of the torture of Daisy Duke, a lab-border collie cross. Two teenagers, including the owner’s son, had bound her legs, pulled a bag over her head, placed duct tape across her snout and a rope around her neck and then dragged her behind a vehicle before leaving her to suffer (and eventually to be euthanized).
The big question mark, still, is the deterrent effect of punishment. A fat lot of good it does to know that Dahmer, Bundy, Berkowitz, and teenaged school shooters started out abusing animals, if a few months in jail for animal cruelty wouldn’t have changed the developing monstrous mindset.
Consider. Had the following criminals (1) known what jail and fines followed their actions (2) would that would have stopped them?
- The 43-year old Illinois man who was making a tuna sandwich when his roommate’s cat jumped on the table. He chased it and cut off 4 inches of its tail with a butcher knife. Sentenced to a year in prison, where he can have his own tail cut viciously.
- The East Palo Alto, CA man who sent his pitbull to attack a neighbor’s old cat. Both animals euthanized. Sent to jail nine months. Not likely to emerge a model citizen.
- The man who, during a family argument, poured gasoline over his uncle’s collie and set her on fire. He pled guilty to arson and animal cruelty. Sentence is pending psychological examinations. Would the judge defer sentencing if the helpless creature set on fire had been human?
- The founder and manager of a Texas chimpanzee sanctuary a squalid hoarder’s camp where residents suffered more from the elements and poor hygiene than they had at the biomedical laboratories from which they came. It had a ratio of one caretaker for 114 animals, no medical clinic, and massive indebtedness before the court-ordered takeover.
In the swirl of violence down the block, on the tube, and imbedded in national policy, it’s hard for prosecutors on a budget to prioritize. Families of all victims grieve, whether the victim is human or animal.
Counseling is a cop-out. No proof it works. Restitution is as good as the criminal’s bank account. Ban animal ownership? Fine. Try enforcing that one.
Who is more likely to become a serial strangler, a cat burglar or a cat strangler? What impacts the economy worse, a puppy mill or a diploma mill? It’s a toss-up. That’s why the criminal’s actions, and not the nature of the victim should drive prosecutions. And that’s why judges should look beyond their career plans and quit discouraging prosecutors with chintzy penalties.
Justice is ever elusive.