IS JUSTICE EVER SERVED?

I’ve been reading about the ? “man”? from Pennsylvania who let his German Shepherd Dogs starve to death. I seen it come across some e-mail lists and then with some awful photo’s on Facebook. I could not pull up those pictures to look at the dead dogs. I could see one laying there dead in the small picture and that was enough for me. I share this planet with these types of vermin and I confess that it gets harder and harder for me to do so!

I’ve said this before in another article that I wrote, that I find something so profoundly wrong when any dog or any animal gets treated like this. I take it up a notch when it’s a German Shepherd Dog that is reduced to a dead carcass lying in a filthy, mud encrusted enclosure as his final “resting” place. This is what his beautiful Hershey brown eyes seen for the last month of his sorrowful life. Even our most hardened criminals get a choice of a last supper if they are going to meet their maker with the help of a lethal injection. These poor souls hadn’t had a last supper or a quench of thirst for a month. Appalling!

Three dogs died and the other seven are receiving medical attention. Not only did they not receive any food or water but there was no heat where they laid their weary bones. Pennsylvania winters are brutal. One of the three that were dead was a puppy. How sorrowful that his short life was a brutal one! Welcome to the world baby!

Now people are writing to the judge that will handle this case asking for jail time rather than just a fine for this monster that inflicted this kind of pain on loving, trusting animals. It will be interesting to see if he receives jail time for his monstrous, premeditated acts of cruelty. Nothing infuriates me more than when justice is not served. Many times with cases like this, the perpetrator gets a slap on the wrist and maybe a few hundred dollars as a fine. Was justice served? Not on your life!

I'm a believer in "Let the punishment fit the crime!" So what does it teach the criminal mind of an animal abuser to be locked away for a week or so? He gets a bed in a warm cell. He gets fed three meals a day. His victims received the harsh punishment of an uncaring soul. This man doesn't know what it means to be a victim. Maybe he should be locked away for a month without any food, water or heat. Then society can say, "Justice has been served!" I really, really think this guy would then "Get it!!!"

When it comes to animal cruelty cases, I rarely read of fair justice being served. It’s almost as if the criminal system is saying that these are just dogs and we don’t have time for animal abuse cases. There’s too many crimes being inflicted on people and naturally those cases come first. I wonder who should determine the extent of pain that a person can endure and the extent that an animal can endure. I don’t even let myself go there with my thoughts of an animal whimpering and shriving with a stomach begging to be fed and a throat dry with longing for a little water.

Until our justice system takes animal cruelty seriously, this kind of heinous act will continue. And as long as it continues it stands as a testament to the overall health (or lack of) of a society as a whole. It’s a testament about those who abuse and a testament about those that turn their heads the other way saying, “It’s not my problem.” But lo to those that may feel this way. It is all of our problems because allowing it to continue sickens an already emotional depleted, unhealthy society. What messages are we sending to our children?

Kick a dog when he’s down and he might come back to bite you! There may come a time when all dogs…..all animals become leery of human beings. Maybe the days of the loyal companion will only be read about in story books and the animals that once roamed the jungles will once again retreat to them to stay as far away from man as they can. Maybe that unconditional love that only a dog seems capable of giving will be replaced with suspicion and distrust……not unlike the man that made him that way!


From the book: "THE LINK BETWEEN ANIMAL ABUSE AND HUMAN VIOLENCE"....Many philosophers, including Aquinas, Locke, Schopenhauer and Kant, have assumed that there is a link between cruelty to animals and violence to people. During the last 40 years, evidence for this view has steadily accumulated as a result of statistical, psychological, and medical investigations, and there is now a substantial body of supporting empirical evidence. "The Link Between Animal Abuse & Human Violence" brings together international experts from seven countries to examine in detail the relationships between animal abuse and child abuse, the emotional development of the child, family violence, and serial murder. It considers the implications for legal and social policy, and the work of key professionals. Sections include critical overviews of existing research, discussion of ethical issues, and a special focus on the abuse of wild animals. This book is essential reading for all those who have a stake in the debate, either because their academic work relates to the issues involved, or because their professional role involves contact with the abused or the abusers, both human and animal, including child care officers, community carers, law enforcement officers, health visitors, veterinarians, anti-cruelty inspectors, animal protection officers, social scientists, lawyers, psychologists, and criminologists. This is the most up-to-date, authoritative, and comprehensive volume on the link between animal abuse and human violence.


My rating: Criminal Justice System for animal abuse: (1), Need for better laws against animal abuse: (4)