Hard call on justice...
I do not like this call but it is in any sense a hard one to judge. Today's
KOMO-5 site reports on the trial of two kids (19 and 21) who:
bq. They're accused of repeatedly shooting a dog with a bow an arrow until it died.
The Judge in this case decided however:
bq. But on the trial's first day, the prosecution lost its first battle in court. The judge decided the prosecution
must now prove that the two defendants didn't just kill a dog, but that they wanted to make it suffer.
bq. What animal rights activists thought would be an easy conviction, is now very much in question.
bq. "We want to see jail time in this case," says Susan Michaels of Pasado's Safe Haven, an animal rescue organization. "It's the least of what these two guys deserve for what they put this dog through."
The 19-year old -- Troy Loney -- was heard to say:
bq. Last spring, Loney told us what happened: "We shot it with a bow." But he denied they shot the dog several times, saying they were just trying to put the stray out of its misery.
bq. "I'm not cruel to animals, I just figured I would do what's best." Witnesses reported the animal was shot at least 10 times.
bq. Activists sitting in court don't buy Loney's statements and say the pair's actions in court are proof.
bq. "They don't look remorseful at all," says Bess. "They were giggling and laughing, as soon as their attorneys re-entered the courtroom they stopped laughing. It's a joke to them; they think they're going to get off."
The Judge in question is Judge Thomas Felnagle
I don't use harsh language often but this decision is fucked in the worst sense of the word. These children do not need a long sentence but they need to get something that they will remember for the rest of their lives -- how about 300 hours service in an animal shelter. After the first hundred hours or so, they will begin to recognize the fact that these critters are as complex and as deserving of love as we hominids are and they might come around and be decent humans after all... If not, if they do not get 'adopted', we can always stuff them into the 55-gallon oil drum and pump car exhaust into it until they stop moving...
Posted by DaveH at August 31, 2004 11:19 PM