Here are some disturbing updates to previously covered cases:
Remember Liz Carlisle, the 20 year old who was charged with first degree animal cruelty for drowning two rabbits at a pet store and putting the picture of her smiling with those rabbits up on Facebook for all to see? Today it was reported that the charges against her could be reduced. Here’s the report:
By Katie Byard, Beacon Journal staff writer
“Animal-cruelty charges against a former pet-store worker accused of drowning two injured rabbits could be lowered. Ron Gatts, attorney for Liz Carlisle, 20, of Ravenna, said he expects a change from first-degree to second-degree misdemeanors. Gatts said the first-degree charges, which each carry up to a six-month sentence, assume the animals were ”companion animals” in a ”residential setting.” The rabbits were not, he said.
Second-degree charges each carry a maximum 90-day jail sentence. Gatts said the change would not be a plea deal, but rather a recognition that wrong charges had been filed. On Thursday, Akron Municipal Judge Stephen Fallis scheduled a jury trail for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 15. A pre-trial is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 10.”
So by the unfortunate circumstance that these rabbits were in a pet store destined to be sold to a customer as “companion animals”, this moron is going to receive a slap on the wrist for her cruel and callous treatment of these defenceless animals. Where’s the deterrent? What this law says then is that as long as the animals are not in a residential setting, animal cruelty charges cannot be brought against idiots who think drowning rabbits as a means of euthanasia is okay. Frankly, the 6 month sentence for first degree charges is laughable because you just know that anyone convicted wouldn’t actually receive that sentence. What a joke animal cruelty laws are if the best you can do is 6 months for first degree.
Or how about the case of Robert Suttles who poisoned his poor dog Bowser with an anti-freeze sandwich by forcing the dog to swallow while holding his jaws shut. You remember this one surely. Who could forget the vision of that poor animal suffering for days before the moron finally came out and apparently impatient that the dog hadn’t died yet, proceeded to kick the dog to death. Or at least we hope the dog was dead because the asshole then threw the dog into a fire barrel and burned him.
Guess what? He got off too. Apparently the DA dropped the ball on filing the indictment and so the case was dismissed. This is yet another example of vigilante justice being warranted. I wonder how this hillbilly would feel with a poisonous sandwich stuffed down his redneck throat?
Let’s not forget either those wonderful celebrities who seem to think that whatever they have to say is worth listening to. Chris Rock appears on the Jay Leno show and they discuss how outrageous it is that Michael Vick did actual time for dog fighting. Here’s the story:
Rock’s Dog-Fighting Comments Cost Him Pryor Role?
Good for Mrs. Pryor for outing Rock as an ignorant asshole but I think he may be too stupid to really care. I’ve never liked him, I always thought his so-called humor was desperate and swampy but now I have a great reason besides that to despise him. I never like Leno either but now I leave the room when hubby puts the show on. Combined these two are about as funny as a fart in church.
Some days I truly despair that our animal brothers and sisters will ever be treated fairly and humanely. I’ve had several crying episodes this past week about animal cruelty including a video from SHARK about bull fighting that I could not bring myself to watch entirely. This is the first time I have thrown my hands to my eyes and said “NO, I just can’t watch this!”. Usually I force myself to watch no matter how painful it is. But that video just went beyond what even I could take. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If you dare: BullfightBloodbath.com
So it’s been a difficult week as you can imagine. However, my mentor Ellie Drake, the founder of Braveheart Women of which I am a Core Member said something on our mentoring call last week that really made me stop and think. She said that pain is a part of life. There is no way to avoid it and that we will always have to face pain in some shape or form as long as we are alive. However, she said, suffering is a choice. We can choose to either suffer for our pain or learn from it and grow.
If cases of animal cruelty hurt me, then it is that pain that causes me to be so passionate about abolishing animal cruelty. Instead of suffering from that pain, I need to take that energy and apply it to the fight for justice. Thanks Ellie. I truly needed to hear that at exactly the moment that you said it.
Anyway, I think that’s enough bad news for today, don’t you? Your comments are always welcomed and I enjoy reading them so please feel free to leave your thoughts. I will be back posting regularly I hope unless the old man comes up with something for else for me to do for him.
Be well and be good to your 4 legged family.
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