Dear Governor John Kasich,
We the people demand a harsher punshiment to D'Erise Carson by passing the Law House Bill 274, known as Goddard's Law . He is an example out of many that animals need protection. Please support the bill and make sure that D'Erise Carson receives the max penalty for his actions.
Thank you
Information found on http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/06/grandmas_cat_burned_alive_500.html
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Public Animal Welfare Society is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the Cleveland man accused of killing his grandmother's cat by setting it on fire.
D'Erise Carson, who will be 26 this month, is charged with two counts of animal cruelty and two counts of animal neglect. An arrest warrant was issued May 30, three days after the cat was killed in the 3100 block of West 92nd Street.
Neighbors called Cleveland police about 9:30 p.m. May 27 and told officers they had seen Carson in his grandmother's yard, where he was laughing loudly, according to the report.
The neighbors then watched a burning cat run away from Carson and into an adjacent yard, where it died.
Another neighbor said he saw Carson pour lighter fluid on the cat. Officers photographed the dead cat and turned the case over to the Cleveland Animal Protective League.
Humane officers also interviewed the witnesses and learned that Carson had first beat the cat before setting it on fire.
"He repeatedly smashed his grandmother's cat to the ground, knocking it senseless," APL director Sharon Harvey said. "He then got the barbecue lighter fluid, doused the cat and set it on fire. The cat came to, ran into a neighbor's yard still burning, and died."
Carson recently moved to Cleveland after he was released from a Pennsylvania prison, where he served several years on a 2007 conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping, according to court records.
Anyone with information on Carson's whereabouts is asked to call Cleveland police, 216-623-5723, and the APL, 216-377-1630.
"We want to get this case to court very badly," Harvey said.
Animal cruelty is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
"That is simply not sufficient for a horrific crime such as this," Public Animal Welfare Society director Amy Beichler said. "This type of act is exactly why we have been pushing to make animal cruelty a felony in Ohio, like it is in so many other states."
Ohio House Bill 274, known as Goddard's Law, would do just that, but it has stalled in the Senate.
