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12/17/2002 "Kenneth Dombeck who shot my 5 month old kittens, wounding one and killing the other with a bullet in the spine got his offense bargained down to a Disorderly Conduct and was fined about $700.00 dollars."

Make animal abuse an aggravated felony

I WOULD SIGN THIS PETITION (LINKED ABOVE) BUT REMEMBER - GOOD LAWS DO NOT MEAN A THING WHEN KILLERS ARE ELECTED TO ENFORCE THEM.

WISCONSIN IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE WONDERFUL LAWS. SO WHAT?

CLICK ON THE TABLE OF CONTENTS UNDER THIS ENTRY AND READ MY EARLY ENTRIES DESCRIBING WHAT ANIMAL ABUSE OFFENDERS RECEIVED AS SENTENCES IN WISCONSIN.

CHARGES CAN BE BARGAINED DOWN BY BRAIN DEAD DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.

CALLOUS PROPERTY RIGHTS ORIENTED JUDGES CAN GIVE NO PUNISHMENT AT ALL SAYING, EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE PREVENTED FROM CROSSING A PROPERTY LINE TO GET YOUR KITTEN, YOU ARE JUST AS BAD AS THE KILLER BECAUSE YOU LET YOUR CAT GO OUTSIDE.

Make Aggravated Animal Cruelty a Felony

On August 21, 2002, 17-year old Russell Watson, savagely beat a 1-year old pitbull, Rahkim, with a baseball bat. The beating was recorded by a security camera in a laundromat in which the puppy went into seeking refuge from Watson.

The video shows the pup entering the site limping and bloodied from Watson attacking him and hiding behind a row of washing machines. Watson can then be seen walking in dangling a baseball bat. The next thing the tape shows is sickening. Watson finds the pup, lines up the bat, and delivers several crushing blows to Rahkim’s head and rendering him unconscious. Watson then drags Rahkim out of the laundromat by his legs and abandons him a block away, leaving Rahkim to die.

Rahkim sustained severe injuries and on August 22, 2002, Rahkim’s owners/family had him euthanized. The puppy belonged to 10-year old Alexis Broadway who lives only a few blocks from where the attack took place. See Photo of Man Attacking Dog Released and Arrest Made; Beaten Dog Dies below.

Under Pennsylvania law, Watson will only be charged with a 2nd Degree Misdemeanor which sentencing is at least $1,000 and/or 2 years imprisonment. Pennsylvania is on of 21 states that do not recognize Aggravated Animal Cruelty as a felony. See State Legislature on Animal Cruelty below.

I understand that these 21 states may not recognize animal life to be as valuable as human life, hence, the misdemeanor statutes. However, tests show that violence towards animals is often linked to violence towards humans including family violence, school shootings, and serial killings. See Cruelty to Animals and Family Violence and Animal Cruelty: warning sign for other violence.

Unfortunately, animals can not speak up for themselves. The animals are counting on you to volunteer. Please sign this petition to ensure that people that commit such acts of extreme animal cruelty will be charged as felons and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The battle to make America a humane country is just beginning. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN IF YOU ARE UNDER 18.

*Photos in article will not be visible due to restrictions of this site.

This Petition requests that the laws of Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming are amended as follows:

Photo of Man Attacking Dog Released
MANTUA-August 21, 2002 — Philadelphia police hope someone can identify a man captured on video tape. He severely beat a dog with a baseball bat in Philadelphia's Mantua section.
A one-year-old pit bull named Rakim is clinging to life at SPCA headquarters with serious injuries following a vicious attack at the hands of a bat-wielding man.
Here is a surveillance photo of the man police say beat the dog senseless for no apparent reason other than he was walking down the street after getting loose.
The pit bull was in such poor shape, he didn't even have the energy to move when an officer tried to untie him from the wall.
Sgt. Roland Lee/Philadelphia Police: "He was lying there, had a broken jaw, multiple injuries and lacerations. He was taken to the SPCA. He was in very bad shape."
This is a picture (above right)of the alleged attacker police are looking for, armed with the baseball bat, as captured by a surveillance camera inside a laundromat at 35th & Spring Garden Streets. Steven Ngyen and his boss, Mr. Lee, say the dog was already bleeding when he ran inside the laundromat to escape his attacker.
Steven Ngyen/witness: "He beat like this and also me and Mr. Lee told him, 'Don't do it, don't do it.' But still he kept doing it."
Ngyen says as far as he could tell, the dog didn't attack anyone. He just happened to be walking down the street when he encountered his attacker. The dog is the pet of 10-year-old Alexis Broadway who lives a few blocks up the street.
Alexis Broadway/pet owner: "We would take him to the park and I would get in the wagon and he would pull me."
One-year-old pitbull Rakim is currently in grave condition at the SPCA. His leg may have to be amputated.
Alexis' father says the dog somehow got loose early Wednesday morning from his chain in the backyard, and he is devastated that someone would do this to their pet.
Ed Broadway/pet owner: "I could understand that if the dog was in the middle of attacking someone and he felt like he was in the middle of saving somebody's life, I could understand him saving somebody's life, but he just deliberately abused the dog."
Chances are one of our viewers knows who this man is, and police are asking that you take a good look at him.
He is described as a light skinned African-American male, last seen wearing a red shirt, jean shorts and carrying a baseball bat. It's likely he lives or frequents the area around 35th & Spring Garden. If you have any information on who this man is or his whereabouts, please call Southwest Detectives at (215) 686-3183.
(Copyright 2002 by WPVI-TV 6. All rights reserved.)

Last Updated: Aug 21, 2002
Arrest Made; Beaten Dog Dies
One-year-old pitbull Rakim was put to sleep on Thursday.

Beaten Dog Dies; Arrest Made
Russell Watson (left) is the 17-year old accused of beating a pitbull dog with a baseball bat. The images and the story have sparked quite a response across the region. Today the dog, a 1-year old pit bull named Rahkim, was put to sleep at the request of the owner.
A teenager accused of injuring a dog with a baseball bat in a beating recorded by a security camera was found on a corner and apprehended in an alley after a short chase, police said.
Officials said the suspect was a 17-year-old male and wouldn't release additional details. He was in custody and was charged with cruelty to animals and possession of narcotics, Sgt. Roland Lee said.
Police had released the videotape from a coin-operated laundry security camera and appealed for the public's help in finding a suspect. Officers apprehended the youth about 11:20 p.m. Wednesday after receiving an anonymous telephone tip, Lee said Thursday.
The graphic tape shows the pit bull, already battered, limping into the laundry and trying to hide behind a row of washing machines.
A man follows, dangling the bat from one hand. Moments later he can be seen carefully lining up with the bat and bringing several crushing blows down on the dog. He then drags the bloodied dog outside and out of camera view.
Police said the dog was found a block away suffering from severe injuries, including a broken foot and broken jaw. It had escaped from a yard at a neighborhood home, police said. Investigators estimated it had been struck at least 15 times.
The dog was being treated at a veterinary hospital run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Police said the dog was conscious and its condition had been stabilized, but they were uncertain whether it would survive.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Action News, the SPCA and even the police have been flooded with calls offering donations to help pay Rakim's medical bills.
If you'd like to make a donation, call (215) 426-6305, ext. 211 or 213.
(Copyright 2002 by WPVI-TV 6 and the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2002

ANIMAL ABUSE AND FAMILY VIOLENCE

The following studies have explored the extent to which individuals who are cruel to animals are also cruel to their children and/or partners.
In relation to child abuse and animal cruelty: •

Walker (1979) examined the records of families who had been reported to child protection agencies and those who had been reported to animal protection agencies in Pennsylvania and discovered that 9% of the families had been reported to both agencies.

• Hutton’s (1981) study in the UK focused on 23 families who were investigated by the RSPCA for animal cruelty and found that 82% of these families were known to social services as having ‘children at risk’.

• Deviney et al (1983) conducted a study in New Jersey of 53 families where abuse or neglect of children had been substantiated and who had pets. They discovered that 88% of these families had abused pets. They also found that 2/3 of the abusers were male adults and 1/3 of the abusers were children.

In relation to domestic violence and animal cruelty:

• In Arkow’s (1995) study, 24% of battered women seeking refuge, and 11% of 1175 women seeking restraining orders or counseling because of domestic violence, had observed cruelty to animals in the home by their abusers.

• Quinlisk (1995) found that of 72 women in a refuge, 86% had animals in the home and in 80% of these homes the reported abuser had been violent to pets.

• Ascione (1996) discovered that 71% of 38 women in a refuge who had pets at home had observed male partners threatening or actually harming or killing pets.

• Renzetti (1992) discovered an overlap between violence to pets and to partners by women in lesbian relationships.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - Animal cruelty: warning sign for other violence - Thursday, May 3, 2001

A year-long study in the United States reveals that animal cruelty is a warning sign for other violence.
Animal cruelty is a warning sign that an individual, particularly a child, could be involved in other violent crimes, says the Humane Society of the United States. Such individuals could pose a risk to family members as well as to the community, the society warns.

The Humane Society has released the findings of a year-long study on animal cruelty in the United States as part of its "First Strike Campaign." This educational initiative was launched by the society in 1997 to increase public and professional awareness of the connection between animal cruelty and human violence.

Nearly a third of the intentional cruelty cases studied involved actions committed by male teens younger than 18. Many of these cases of cruelty to animals also involved some form of family violence whether domestic violence, child abuse or elder abuse, the researchers found.

The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 7 million members, is the first organization to conduct a national study examining the prevalence of human violence as it relates to animal cruelty.

Cases studied were drawn from well-documented sources such as media reports and local humane societies. The HSUS compiled information from more than 1,600 cases nationwide that occurred between in the year 2000.

Girls and women are rarely responsible for animal cruelty. In the cases studied, 94 percent of intentionally cruel acts to animals were committed by males.

Thirty-one percent of the incidents involved perpetrators age 18 and younger. Four percent of those were younger than 12.

Family violence was part of 21 percent of the animal cruelty incidents.

"The high percentage of male teen-agers perpetrating intentional acts of cruelty against animals, and the large number of cruelty cases in which animal cruelty and family violence coexisted, should be a red flag to anyone concerned about reducing violence in our society," said Claire Ponder, HSUS First Strike campaign manager.

This kitten, whose eyes had be removed, was found tortured and abandoned in a Virginia field.
"You don't have to be an animal lover to see that animal cruelty is a warning sign that an individual could be involved in other violent crimes and could pose a risk to family members as well as the larger community," she said.

Many criminals, from youngsters responsible for shootings at schools to the most notorious serial killers, have had a history of cruelty to animals before acting violently against people.

Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school in 1979, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, setting their tails on fire.

Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler" who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes in his youth. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of dogs, frogs and cats on sticks.

More recently, investigators found that Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, the two teens responsible for the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, mutilated animals.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began to see a connection between cruelty to animals and other violent behavior in the late 1970s, according to agent Alan Brantley, who works in the bureau's behavioral science unit. Agents conducted a study of serial killers and found that most had killed or tortured an animal as children or adolescents.

The FBI now uses animal abuse as one of the indicators of possible violent behavior against humans.

Special Agent Brantley said: "Animal cruelty is not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual. This is a warning sign that this individual is not mentally healthy and needs some sort of intervention. Abusing animals does not dissipate those violent emotions, it may fuel them."

Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network
All Rights Reserved

Source http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=47#States

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