OP/ED: Man who beheaded dog sentenced to 25 years to life

Causing harm to an animal is a horrible thing. The punishment for killing an animal should be that of the punishment for killing a fellow human being. A man who beheaded a German shepherd he had named for his girlfriend was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life under the state's three-strikes law.

He is in a lot of trouble....



The punishment for killing an animal should be 25 years, maybe even more. It is alive too, they have feelings. Why did he kill it? Because it was named after his wife. Obviously this person has something wrong in his head.

Not only did he kill the animal but he did it in such a horrific way that makes you wonder if he should be let back into society.

If he is displaying this kind of behaviour now, on an animal, imagine what he can do to another human being.

[edit on 10-10-2004 by SkepticOverlord]

States:
"Defense lawyers claimed Abernathy suffered from schizophrenia
and psychotic delusions. The judge, however, ruled he was sane
at the time of the January 2002 violence."

Then he needs to be off the streets and out of communities
and far away from people and animals for a real long time!!
I'm so glad the courts are taking a stand on cruelty to animals,
and hitting them with time!

So apparently farmers should go to jail, as should people who set mouse traps.

Or only cute animals are worth saving

Note: I support this guy going to jail, not for animal rights, but becasue he's a sick F#ck.)

[edit on 10-9-2004 by Esoterica]

I dont believe in animal cruelty at all, however when people place the value of animals above humans i just have to shake my head...

(shakes head and walks away...)

I agree with Esoterica. You want to know how cows are slaughtered? Its just as bad as what that guy did to the dog. They cut the throat of the cow and let it choke to death on its own blood.

I disagree.

Cows are killed for a reason, they are used for food.

It is WAY different that killing a dog.

The reason matters some but the method matters more. Do you think the dog or cow cares why you did it? Heck no. We only say it because it makes us feel better.

Shoot pig between eyes with .22 cal rifle.

Put hooks in pig's achile's tendons, haul him up.

Slit throat.

All done while other pigs watch. They're pretty smart and know what's going to happen but too late at that point.

Not pretty, but if you grow up with it you still eat your porkchops.

Cruelty to animals isn't nice, though.

Originally posted by MacKiller
Okay, buThe punishment for killing an animal should be 25 years, maybe even more. It is alive too, they have feelings. Why did he kill it? Because it was named after his wife. Obviously this person has something wrong in his head.

For the sake of argument I'll go along with the 25 years for the dog killing, but in relative scale where does that put the murder of a human being. For sentencing to be fair there has to be a sense of scale, a lesser crime must have a lesser penalty, a crime of greater magnitude must carry a greater penalty.

I believe 25 years is too great for the crime, and that his sentencing should have some form of psychiatric evaluation as a condition of parole.

Another issue to consider is if you have a dog killer in prison, who is released due to overcrowding?

Make no mistake, I believe what he did is wrong, one must simply maintain perspective when considering the penalty phase of jurisprudence.

All this talk of pigs and cows makes me hungry.

Whos for a juicy piece of well done dead cow with fries...

Originally posted by rustiswordz
All this talk of pigs and cows makes me hungry.

Whos for a juicy piece of well done dead cow with fries...

I'm up for it. But its gotta be angus. I'll fire up the grill.

But seriously though. Cruelty to animals seems to only apply to cute fluffy things. If its ugly and/or no one wants it then you can do whatever you want. Note: Its ok to kill a dog or cat if its an incovenience to you. That is what animal control does.

State's three-strikes law, got him the 25 yrs, which he deserves.
He has a violent past.
He'll serve a third of the sentence.
As for releasing someone to provide room, don't worry they'll
just crowd him in, prisons are BIG bu$ine$$.
What is it like $43,000.00 per inmate per year a prison receives.

BTW he deserves the time, did he behead the Shepard for his
dinner!? His intent was what the court looked at.

I wanna know or see a list of the animals that could get you charged for causing harm on. Obviously, it doesn't apply to all living things. What standards are we setting? Is it because it's a living creature, or that it's cute?

Its a cute thing. You could do whatever you wanted to a rat and no one would care. Shoot em. Poison em. Toss em on the grill. You'd get no complaints. If a rat was cute the rules would change.

The state that you're in determines the law (State Penal Code).
They don't go by "cute".

Cute absolutely matters. Try this. Poison a dog and poison a rat. See which one lands you in jail. I promise you that the dog one will. Cute is everything. If you are going down the road and swerve in order to hit a possum you'll only be in trouble for leaving a mess. At best. If you swerve to hit a dog you are going to jail.

Protects animals:

216.239.39.104...:J7tu59hHsScJ:www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/AnimalCrueltyLaws.pdf+NYS+penal+code+law+article+130+on+animal+cruelty& hl=en

Rats DO have a cute factor, for some people.

I guess that some folks have really screwed up priorities.
A dogs life DOES NOT equal a human life.
There should a penalty, but NOT 25 years.

In this particular case, it was a Third strike technicality that got him the extra time. So be it..The dog was sacrificed, to get this scum off the streets.

Originally posted by Indy
Cute absolutely matters.

I have to agree with Indy on this one. Cute does matter. That being said, given a choice between hitting a dog/cat/possum et al, and putting my family at risk by some crazy manuvers, I chose family each and every time.