[Vision2020] Animal Abusers, Welcome to Red Idaho!

[Art Deco]

There is recent research that correlating animal abuse by children/teen and 
violent crimes in later life.  I haven't time to Google it, but I remember 
reading it in the last year.

W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce and Jean Livingston" <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com>
To: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at adelphia.net>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 2:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Animal Abusers, Welcome to Red Idaho!


>I have an interesting anecdotal nugget that cannot be statistically
> validated to necessarily have any significance, but it still is
> "interesting."
>
> One of the things I do in my work with death row inmates is to investigate
> their lives, looking for reasons how they came to be the person they are 
> and
> perhaps find evidence that could have been presented to a jury that would
> have convinced a jury to sentence the murderer to life in prison instead 
> of
> death.
>
> Obviously, a common thread in these cases is a violent family background.
> All too typically, the murderer's childhood is replete with stories of
> violence, with the seeming consequence that the child grows up
> de-senstitized to violence, and becomes violent.  The violence that we
> usually think about is domestic violence and sex abuse, with the child
> experiencing the violence personally as both an observer and the 
> recipient.
> Dad beats mom brutally in front of the children a lot, or beats the 
> children
> themselves, or uncle Jimmy sodomizes little Joey, repeatedly, etc. etc.
>
> But the interesting anecdote that Saundra's "animal abuser" tag line
> prompted for me was this surprising anecdotal fact:  In more than half of
> the death penalty mitigation investigations that I have conducted, as a
> child the eventual murderer experienced the "murder" of an animal that was
> his pet by violent means at the hands of a close relative, usually "Dad."
> For example, I am talking about angrily smashing the pet dog's head with a
> booted foot in the kitchen, or killing the family cat by wringing it's 
> head
> off, or most gruesomely, beating a horse to death with a hammer, for not
> going onto the trailer easily (and then refusing to put it out of its 
> misery
> and letting it linger, moaning, for two days, when any other horse in the
> family outfitting business would be mercifully shot if it broke a leg).
>
> I cannot verify that animal abuse leads to violence in humans that observe
> it, but the surprising frequency of this sort of conduct in the lives of
> death row inmates when they were young children gives me great pause.
>
> Bruce Livingston
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at adelphia.net>
> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 1:38 PM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Animal Abusers, Welcome to Red Idaho!
>
>
>> Visionaries,
>>
>> The first time I posted about this issue back in September 2004, Idaho 
>> was
>> one of only nine states in our great nation that lacked a felony animal
>> cruelty statute.
>>
>> I think it's time to revisit this issue because in the time since, the
>> situation has gotten worse instead of improving  :-(  At this point, 
>> Idaho
>> remains one of only ***four*** states that still lacks a felony animal
>> cruelty statute.
>>
>> My understanding is that Rep. Tom Trail has been working to fix this
>> travesty.  To date, he's been unsuccessful, and I'm hoping he will 
>> provide
>> us with his comments and the current status.
>>
>> Why should you care?
>>
>> For one thing, as appropriate laws and penalties are enforced elsewhere,
>> Idaho becomes a more and more attractive place for those law breakers to
>> come.
>>
>> For the last 25 years, the link between animal abuse and domestic 
>> violence
>> (child abuse, spouse abuse, elder abuse) has been recognized.  As long as
>> we
>> allow Idaho to continue to be a haven for animal abusers, we create an
>> environment that's more dangerous for ***all*** Idahoans.
>>
>> Are you sick of watching your neighbor leave his/her animals outside
>> without
>> adequate food/water/shelter?  Well, too bad for you -- not to mention for
>> the animals -- because Idaho lacks adequate definitions and standards of
>> *basic* care  :-(
>>
>> And, let's say you witness a person abusing his/her animal and do the
>> right
>> thing by reporting it.  And,  the offender is convicted, even though it's
>> just a misdemeanor.  You've saved the animal from a wretched existence,
>> right?  Wrong!  Idaho law does NOT provide for forfeiture of abused
>> animals,
>> so right back to the abuser the animal goes  :-(
>>
>> Idaho law also fails to provide for restrictions on the future ownership
>> or
>> possession of animals following conviction.  So, Harry or Mary could beat
>> their dog, be convicted, burn their cat alive, be convicted, starve their
>> horse, be convicted, etc., etc., etc.
>>
>> "But, only a crazy person would do that," you might say.  Maybe, maybe 
>> not
>> .
>> . . but we'll never know because Idaho law also fails to provide for
>> mental
>> health evaluations or counseling for those convicted of animal abuse.
>>
>> No matter what kind of growth you advocate, you'd better hope our
>> legislature -- and our local authorities -- start making things right 
>> with
>> respect to animal laws because the situation will only worsen.  It will
>> continue to hit us in the pocketbooks because there's a financial aspect
>> to
>> our woefully inadequate laws:  Idaho law doesn't provide for adequate 
>> cost
>> mitigation provisions (i.e., cost of care bonds, reimbursement of costs,
>> restitution) for impounded animals.
>>
>> While some of these and other inadequacies need to be resolved at the
>> state
>> level, there's plenty of room for improvement locally.  The City of 
>> Moscow
>> had just such an opportunity a year or so ago, yet the then-City Council
>> took a pass on addressing these very real problems.  We should advocate
>> for
>> our Mayor and current Council Members to show the wisdom of local
>> improvement *now* rather than waiting until it costs us even more money .
>> .
>> . and suffering.
>>
>>
>> JMHO,
>> Saundra Lund
>> Moscow, ID
>>
>> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
>> nothing.
>> - Edmund Burke
>>
>> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2006, Saundra Lund.
>> Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
>> without the express written permission of the author.*****
>>
>>
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>
>
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> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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