Hamster twisted to death by 15-year old
- by: Carolyn Mullin, No More Homeless Animals
- recipient: ColMichael Hunt, Probation Officer, Columbiana County Prosecutor's Office
The specific charges are cruelty to a companion animal, a fifth degree
felony in adult cases, and two charges of inducing panic, a
first-degree misdemeanor if the defendant were an adult. One charge of
inducing panic stems from the allegation the boy killed the hamster in
front of other students; the second relates to his alleged threat to
kill two witness students if they told on him.
Arraignment is set for Thursday, May 19, 2005.
The fact of a prior conviction makes the cruelty to animals charge more
serious, said Liebschner. "Obviously we are concerned," she said. "We
are taking this very seriously." The student is alleged to have twisted a hamster to death in front of other students in school on May 5th.
It has been proven over and over. Statistical data, case
studies, psychologists, and even FBI Profilers show us the connection
over
and over again, and yet animal abuse crimes are not given nearly the
weight
that human crimes are given. Animal abuse clearly illustrates a lack of
empathy for the suffering of others, which is a signficant
characteristic of sociopathic personalities.
If you break it down to its bare essentials:
"Abusing an animal is a way for
a human to find power/joy/fulfillment through the torture of a victim
they
know cannot defend itself."
The line separating an animal abuser from someone capable of
committing human abuse is much finer than most people care to consider.
People abuse animals for the same reasons they abuse people. Some of
them will stop with animals, but enough have been proven to
continue on to commit violent crimes to people that it's worth paying
attention to.
Virtually every serious violent offender has a history of
animal abuse in their past, and since there's no way to know
which animal abuser is going to continue on to commit violent human
crimes, they should ALL be taken that seriously. FBI Supervisory
Special Agent Allen Brantley was quoted as saying "Animal cruelty... is
not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual; this is a
warning sign..." It should be looked at as exactly that. Its a clear
indicator of psychological issues that can and often DO lead to more
violent human crimes.
Children who have abused animals should learn through
teachers, social situations, and good
parenting that abuse is wrong, and correct their behavior. This is a
critical time, and if any one of
those corrective elements is missing, that child is high risk for
potentially becoming more abusive later on. As said by Anthropologist
Margaret Mead, "One of the most dangerous things that can happen to a
child
is to kill or torture an animal and get away with it".
There are things that can be done.
http://www.pet-abuse.com/prevent/
http://www.pet-abuse.com/prevent/children.php
http://www.pet-abuse.com/connection/spread.php
We are urging vigorous prosecution and mandatory psychological counseling and juvenile hall detention is this adolescent is charged.
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