A Proposed Law Would Handle Animal Abusers Appropriately Without it: It’s A Judges Choice!

” Everybody should read this…especially those in the position of dealing with animals abusers!! I was always told ‘Prevention is better than cure’. So to prevent a crime in the future, one has to deal with the culprit in the here & now! But the Judicial system is not dealing with animal abusers/killers as they should…why not?”

“It would also help if there was a National Animal Abuse database!  Animal abusers could well be future killers…so stop with the ‘slap on the wrist & the suspended sentences’ they do jack shit to prevent the culprit committing future crimes…as is well known & documented. What is said here should apply to the whole world when it comes to dealing with animal abuse!!”

The man who is charged with setting fire to a cat in Bucks County must be severely punished for such a heinous crime (“Bucks man accused of burning cat can keep 2d,” Feb. 2). In addition, he must be prevented from having any contact with any other animals, even if it means depriving his son of another kitten that has been living in the home.

Animal abuse is an ominous sign. In Deadly Serious, which offers an FBI perspective on animal cruelty, Special Agent Alan Brantley recounted numerous profiles of violent criminals who had histories of animal abuse. From interviews with other agents, he found that about half of those in prison for murder had maimed and tortured animals while youths. And almost all serial killers abused animals as children. 

The psychological literature is replete with major studies that have identified the animal/human violence link. When animals are abused, people are at risk. The man who kicks the dog is just warming up. Nine of 10 abusers are male. A batterer’s first victim is often a pet. Among the men involved in both animal and human violence, the most common charges were domestic violence and child abuse. These inseparable forms of abuse must be fought as one battle.

Animal abuse is a national tragedy. We suffer from a myopia regarding the far-reaching implication. The time for corrective measures is overdue. I would suggest a nationwide campaign aimed at treating animal abuse as the serious crime it is. Until the abusers are treated like the criminals they are, we won’t change society’s attitude about the unspeakable nature of this pernicious behaviour. Animal abuse is a warning sign to be heeded. It is not a trivial matter.

Brantley emphasizes the need for stronger anti-cruelty laws and more aggressive enforcement. In a survey commissioned by the Humane Society of the United States in 1997, more than 80 percent of the respondents favoured this concept.

Also, psychiatric intervention is fundamental. Animal cruelty may indicate a family in need of professional help. It may be a symptom of a deeply disturbed family.

The tangled web of animal abuse cannot be isolated. Eighteenth-century philosopher Immanuel Kant said, “He who is cruel to animals become hard also in his dealings with men.” Animal abuse often opens the door to persistent antisocial behaviour toward humans. One’s environment does not excuse this behaviour; it only explains it.

Now we have children killing children. Too often, these youngsters show early and prolific histories of animal abuse. Anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” Stepping in at an early point may very well break the vicious cycle of family violence.

I would urge all Pennsylvanians to contact their state senators and urge passage of House Bill 709, which has already won unanimous approval in the House. The bill, now before the full Senate for a vote, would strengthen the state’s animal-cruelty law in two ways:

Anyone convicted of cruelty to a cat or dog for a second or subsequent time would be guilty of a third-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Now, each cat- or dog-cruelty offence is considered a summary violation, punishable by up to 90 days in prison and a $300 fine.

Upon sentencing, the trial judge would be empowered to prohibit or limit the offender from owning, controlling or having custody of animals – or to prevent his or her employment in the business of animal care.

These restrictions could be imposed for the statutory maximum term of imprisonment applicable to the offence  even if the offender were sentenced to less than the full term. Now, such restrictions, as in the case of the Bucks County case, can be imposed by a judge only as a condition of bail.

This law would send another firm message that society will not tolerate animal abusers.

Bridget W. Irons lives in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

News Link:-http://articles.philly.com/2004-02-13/news/25374740_1_animal-abuse-animal-and-human-violence-animal-cruelty/2

Cumbrian Man 25, Jailed For Child & Animal Porn

“Yet another sexual predator of the worst kind, these malevolent creatures have no thought or feeling for anyone or anything. They certainly have no empathy for little children; so harming animals is of no consequence to them. Many psychiatric reports state, that these depraved minds, start off by abusing animals.  Putting these perverts on the Sexual Register is of course warranted, children need the highest protection there is, nothing is more sacred than the innocence of a child!”

“Of course, animals need protecting too, sentient beings, voiceless, innocent, the perfect victims…they also need protecting from these corrupt & harmful degenerates. It is a well-known fact, the FBI now see the correlation between those who have abused animals, will usually turn to human victims. They probably set out in life on a very rough hard road, perhaps they were even abused themselves! If so, without help, their anger at being humiliated, touched, usually by a family member, stirs so much pent-up anger, that something blow’s; unfortunately animals are usually the closet thing at hand, & they won’t tell, which is perfect; to start with!”

“The poor voiceless animals are perfect to use, the family dog or cat can’t tell anyone! Therefore they are used as sexual instruments, for experimenting on, learning about pain levels & easy way’s to hurt them, without anyone noticing! Before long it becomes a habit, an addiction, but each time the pain they inflict on the animal will be worse than the last. The more fear & hurt they cause the animal, the better the abuser feels; almost empowered, through his own perverse actions, he will release his own anger & vengeful hatred he has of people & the world! It won’t be long before he kill’s an animal & the rush of excitement & adrenalin he get’s from it…means he is at his most dangerous!  

“As the law stands, sadly Animal Abuse Registers are not mandatory in any Country! But I truly believe if they were, certain lives would not have been shattered; the police would have known about offenders & those offenders, knowing they were being watched; would be a great deterrent. Not only that, both the Sex Offenders List & the Animal Abuse Register could be synchronised, therefore flagging up potential names that have been added to both. A mirror image of the Sex offenders list, in fact it could be the Sex offenders list, but called the Animal Abuse Register…all the data would be the same on both registers, name, address, police records etc. but most importantly a picture of the abuser. If the database was shared throughout veterinary offices, animal shelters, anywhere where animals may turn up to be treated or adopted…if incorporated correctly, I’m sure, animal abusers would be caught; & perhaps a child’s life saved. 

The police use the Sex offenders list to keep an eye on would be molesters etc. Why couldn’t the police use the same tactics to catch these degenerates with animals, convict them, give them a taste of Jail…then hopefully the offender would have been saved in time, before they turn to children…who knows! 

“Did you know,  not all vets have to tell the police if they receive an animal they fear has been abused, depends where they live…that’s another area that need’s addressing. I would hope that most vets, out of a sense of duty, would involve the police in any case they were suspicious of!”

“There is absolutely nothing to lose by trying out Animal Abuse Registers. Animal abuse is a proven predictor of violent behaviour. The FBI considers past animal abuse not only as a predictor of human violence, but uses it when profiling serial killers.”  

“One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it.” -Anthropologist Margaret Mead”

Please sign this petition to implement registry’s:–http://www.change.org/petitions/european-parliament-implement-an-animal-abuser-registry

A man who downloaded and stored videos and more than 1,500 indecent images of child and animal pornography featuring “real exploitation of the grossest form” has been sent to prison.

Samuel William Clark, 25, of Salterbeck Drive, Workington, pleaded guilty to all 26 charges, including three of possessing images of the highest severity and two of possessing extreme pornography videos featuring animals.

On June 25 of this year police executed a search warrant and seized a laptop, computer and mobile phone belonging to Clark, as well as a number of storage disks.

They discovered more than 1,500 images that Clark had downloaded from file sharing programmes and internet searches.

Defence barrister Greg Hoare said that Clark downloaded and viewed the images “because he was getting bored” and that he was not aroused by them.

The images included pornography of severity levels one to five of children under 13, severity levels one to five of children under 16, and several videos.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Batty said told Clark: “The material featured exploitation of children, some under the age of five. “Certain people should just be extinguished”

“It was real exploitation of the grossest form.

“Unusually, you had gone to the trouble of downloading a considerable amount of it onto disks and that is an added aspect. “He was probably planning to sell them”

“The fact that you were in possession of extreme pornography, the likes of which many people will never have viewed, means I am unable to suspend the prison sentence.”

Clark was sentenced to 12 months in prison, given a sexual prevention order for an indefinite term to prevent him having access to the internet, prohibited from having unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, disqualified from working with children and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years. “Where is the ‘ Not allowed to own animals’??

News Link:–http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbrian-man-25-jailed-for-child-and-animal-porn-1.1010318?referrerPath=news

In Defense Of Animals Doubles Reward In Minneapolis Cat Cruelty Case

Reward fund now totals $2,000 to convict person(s) who stabbed and set cat on fire

Minneapolis, Minn. (August 16, 2012) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization based in California, has added $1,000 to a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever stabbed, then burned to death a cat in a Minneapolis park. This brings the total reward to $2,000.

On August 12, police responded to a call from park employees who found a dead cat in the Longfellow Park and Recreation Center, a voting location used in Tuesday’s primary election. The cat’s throat had been slit, she had been set on fire, and a small American flag had been stabbed into her body. There was also an Obama/Biden lawn flag stuck in the ground at the site. That prompted interest from the FBI, Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, who are also investigating.

The Minnesota Federated Humane Societies (MFHS) has posted a $1,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible. “This despicable act of animal cruelty will not go unpunished,” said MFHS General Council Representative Tim Shields to WCCO, the local CBS affiliate. “Those responsible for this cruel, torturous death of a house pet will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

IDA has pledged to double that reward to encourage someone to come forward with information. “Whoever would commit this grotesque crime is a danger to us all.” said Jack Carone, Communications Director of IDA. “We know beyond a doubt that animal cruelty is a precursor to violence against humans. Someone knows something, and we ask them to come forward, both in the interest of justice for this poor animal and for the safety of the community.”

IDA urges anyone with information about this brutal killing to contact the Minnesota Federated Humane Societies at 612-866-8663. To contribute to the reward fund, please call IDA at (415) 448-0048, ext.0.

News Link:-http://www.idanews.org/ida-breaking-news/in-defense-of-animals-doubles-reward-in-minneapolis-cat-cruelty-case/

The FBI Crime Report: Making Animal Cruelty Offenses Count

A very simple sad fact is that people abuse animals. It is hard for most people to fathom why anyone would want to hurt anther living being. Who does this? Where does it happen? Is it increasing or decreasing?

The answers to these and other questions would help law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health professionals, educators, policy makers, and others address this problem more effectively. Unfortunately, not only is this information not readily available, but also, until now, it could not be said whether such information even exists.

In recognition of April as Animal Cruelty Awareness Month, the Animal Welfare Institute announces the availability of the Animal Cruelty Crime Statistics: Findings from a Survey of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs. “I highly recommend reading these statistics!”

For the first time, a snapshot has been taken of whether and how states collect and report animal cruelty crime data. Knowing this is the first step towards having such information available on a national level.

Animal cruelty in and of itself is a heinous act against some of the most vulnerable members of society. It is a crime in all jurisdictions, and some forms constitute felonies in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virginia Islands. Moreover, it is well known that animal abuse is linked to other crimes, including family violence and other forms of interpersonal violence, gang and drug offenses, and property crimes. However, the FBI does not collect animal cruelty crime statistics as part of its Uniform Crime Report (UCR), and so there is no broad picture of these crimes.

AWI has long been working to achieve inclusion of animal related crimes in the UCR. Its new report offers detailed information obtained from the 28 participating state FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) programs about if and how animal cruelty crime statistics are reported to the state UCR programs by local police and then transmitted to the FBI national office. Of critical importance, Animal Cruelty… reveals that some state UCR programs maintain retrievable animal cruelty crime statistics. This is vital information not publicly known before this survey.

AWI President Cathy Liss explained that the survey was done to gain a better understanding of what is and isn’t known about crimes against animals. “We needed to know if such information exists or can be generated for submitting to the FBI. We learned that some states are already collecting such data. And we were particularly gratified to learn that the majority agree that having such data is useful.”

This report takes an important first step toward the goal of gaining inclusion of animal cruelty crime statistics in the FBI’s national analysis.

News Source:-Animal Welfare Institute

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