URGENT: Three Iowa Teens Charged in Animal Torture
We're sending this petition to you in email and in the US mail. This is urgent that you prosecute these boys to the fullest extent for the sadistic torture of animals to include videotaping pouring lighter fluid on them and burning them alive. We petition that they serve the max. penalty in jail, pay the fines, and undergo psychological testing and counseling.
Animal torture is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
We're sending this petition to you in email and in the US mail. This is urgent that you prosecute these boys to the fullest extent for the sadistic torture of animals to include videotaping pouring lighter fluid on them and burning them alive. We petition that they serve the max. penalty in jail, pay the fines, and undergo psychological testing and counseling. Animal torture is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
A videotape of Webster County teenagers who doused live opossums with
lighter fluid and set them on fire generated no laughs at the humor Web
site where the youths submitted it, or from the animal protection
authorities who contacted police.
Josh Colvin, cruelty
intervention coordinator for the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, called
the videotape "the worst animal torture I've ever seen."
The
teens, whose names and hometowns were not available, created the video
and sent it to the popular entertainment Web site eBaumsworld.com,
which features a variety of humorous video clips, stories and games.
Web site administrators who viewed the video on June 20 referred the
video, e-mail correspondence and Internet service provider information
to a senior caseworker from People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, who contacted the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. Colvin said
Webster County authorities were investigating, but sheriff's officials
could not be reached for comment.
Colvin, who saw the
videotape on June 19, described two young men pouring lighter fluid on
the opossums and setting them on fire.
"It shows the possums
walking around, clearly just engulfed with flames," he said. "They do
this to two possums while laughing hysterically in the background."
Anthony Robert Herrington, David Lee Bendickson, and Kevin Calderon,
all 19 years old, were each charged with two counts of animal torture.
According to the court records, the three roommates allegedly set two
possums on fire between May and June in rural Webster County at the
2700 block of 180th Street and videotaped their actions.
The punishments for an aggravated misdemeanor are up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Active cruelty implies malicious intent, where a person has
deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal. Acts of active
cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered
signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behavior is often
associated with sociopathic behavior and should be taken very seriously.
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