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(Letter prepared by Diana Artemis)
Dear :
I
write to respectfully request that you [impose/seek] the maximum
penalty against [name], who allegedly [act committed].
I
understand that [brief description of the alleged crime].
I encourage you to prosecute [this offender/these
offenders] to the fullest extent of the law for [his/her/their]
cruel and remorseless crime. If you don't already know, social
scientists and law enforcement officials have identified animal
abuse as a symptom of emotional illness and a precursor to violent
crimes against human beings. For your reference I have attached
several examples of convicted criminals with a background of
animal abuse.
Several states prosecute animal abuse as a
felony offense and impose mandatory psychiatric counseling along
with jail time and fines. [INSERT NAME OF OFFENDER(S)] is
obviously very disturbed, as a normal person would not
automatically react to a situation with such out-of-control
violence.
As the trail of sad examples below show, and
recent violence across our country attest to; it is time to send a
clear message to people capable of intentionally inflicting
serious injury or death to helpless animals, that such brutal and
senseless crimes will not be tolerated and there are guaranteed
consequences for those who would show such disdain for the law.
As a society we must call a halt to the acceptance of
animal cruelty and enforce a policy of harsh punishment for such
crimes. To allow individuals guilty of perpetrating such cruel and
violent acts to go unpunished or not sufficiently punished, would
be to sanction these horrific crimes and would permit them, and
others, to possibly go on to commit serious and violent crimes
against innocent human beings.
Please protect the
children, animals and citizens of [INSERT NAME OF STATE, TOWN OR
LOCATION] by giving [insert name(s) of offenders] serious jail
time and a fine. Anyone who devalues life in this manner should
not be walking the streets without immediate psychiatric
treatment.
Sincerely,
ATTACHMENT: CASES OF
ANIMAL ABUSERS PROGRESSING TO HUMAN VIOLENCE
Recent cases
in the news of random attacks on high school students and
children, show that each disturbed individual had a history of
animal abuse. Research in psychology and criminology shows that
people who commit acts of cruelty against animals often move on to
their fellow humans. The following list is just a "sample" of
people who first committed crimes against animals and graduated to
committing crimes against humans. EACH TIME WE IGNORE ANIMAL
ABUSE, WE ALLOW THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE PERPETUATOR'S EMOTIONAL
ILLNESS WILL ESCALATE INTO HUMAN TRAGEDY, SOMETIMES OF EPIDEMIC
PROPORTIONS!
ANIMAL VICTIMS /HUMAN VICTIMS: REPORTS FROM
POLICE CASE FILES
"Russell Weston Jr., tortured and killed
12 cats, by burning, cutting their tails, paws, ears off, put
toxic chemicals in their eyes, blinding them, forcing them to eat
poison, hanging them from trees; the noose loose enough to create
a slow and painful death, as the cat/kitten struggles to free
itself as the noose gets tighter with each attempt. Later killed 2
officers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC."
"Jeffery
Dahmer loved to dissect animals (he learned this in school). Later
he dissected boys, and kept their body parts in the refrigerator.
Murdered 17 men."
"On May 21, 1998 in Springfield, Oregon;
15-year-old Kip Kinkel set a live cat on fire and dragged the
innocent creature through the main street of town. He walked into
his high school cafeteria and opened fire on his classmates. Two
classmates were killed and 22 others injured, four critically.
Later that day, police found his parents shot to death in their
home."
"Albert De Salvo, the "Boston Strangler," would
place a dog and cat in a crate with a partition between them.
After starving the animals for several days, he would remove the
partition and watch them kill each other. He raped and killed 13
women by strangulation. He would often pose the bodies in a
shocking manner after their murders."
"Richard Allen Davis
set numerous cats on fire. He killed all of Polly Klaus' animals
before abducting & murdering Polly Klaus, aged 12, from her
bedroom."
"Eleven-year-old Andrew Golden, 13-year-old
Mitchell Johnson, tortured and killed dogs. A friend of Golden
stated that "he shoots dogs all the time with a .22." On March 24,
1998, in Jonesboro, Arkansas; Golden and Johnson shot and killed
four students and one teacher during a fire drill at their
school."
"Prior to commiting multiple murders, Luke
Woodham, age 16, wrote in his personal journal that he and an
accomplice beat, burned and tortured his dog, Sparkle, to death.
Woodham said it was "true beauty." He poured liquid fuel down his
dog's throat and set fire to her neck, both inside and outside. On
10/1/1977, Woodham stabbed his mother to death and then went to
his high school where he shot and killed two classmates -- two
girls aged 16 and 17, and injured seven others. In June 1998,
Woodham was found guilty of three murders and seven counts of
aggravated assault. He was sentenced to three life sentences and
an additional 20 years for each assault."
"Theodore Robert
Bundy was forced to witness animal cruelty by his grandfather. He
later killed thirty-three women."
"Michael Cartier pulled
numerous rabbit's legs out of their sockets when he was four years
old and threw a kitten through a closed window. He went on to
shoot Kristin Lardner three times in the head, killing her."
Michael Ross, Connecticut strangler of 8 women, was forced
by his father as a 5 year old boy to strangle the sick chicks on
their poultry farm.
"Henry Lee Lucas killed numerous
animals and had sex with their corpses. He killed his mother,
common law wife and an unknown number of people."
"Edward
Kemperer cut up two cats. He later killed his grandparents, his
mother and seven other women."
"Richard Speck threw a bird
into a ventilator fan. Killed eight women."
"Randy Roth
taped a cat to a car's engine and used an industrial sander on a
frog. Killed two of his wives and attempted to kill a third."
"David Richard Davis shot and killed two healthy ponies,
threw a wine bottle at a pair of kittens and hunted with illegal
methods. Murdered his wife, Shannon Mohr Davis, for insurance
money."
"Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Monster, tortured
dogs, and practiced bestiality while killing the animal. Murdered
or attempted to murder over 50 men, women and children."
"Richard Trenton Chase, "The Vampire Killer of
Sacramento," bit the heads off birds, drained animals for their
blood, killed animals for their organs, and later killed six
people in random attacks. One police officer who was at the scene
of the first murder, confessed to having nightmares about the
crime or months afterwards."
"The Kobe Killer, an as yet
unnamed 15-year-old boy in Japan, beheaded a cat ad strangled
several pigeons. Decapitated 11-year-old Jun Hase, and battered to
death a 10-year-old girl with a hammer, and assaulted three other
children in separate attacks."
"Richard William Leonard's
grandmother forced him to kill and multilate cats and kittens when
he was a child. He later killed Stephen Dempsey with a bow and
arrow. He also killed Ezzedine Bahmad by slashing his throat."
"Tom Dillion murdered people's pets. He shot and killed
Jamie Paxton, aged 21; Claude Hawkins, aged 49; Donald Welling,
aged 35; Kevin Loring, aged 30; and Gary Bradely, aged 44."
"At 9 years old, Eric Smith strangled a neighbor's cat. At
13 years old, he bludgeoned four-year-old Derrick Robie to death.
Smith lured the little boy into the woods, choked him, sodomized
him with a stick, then beat him to death with a rock."
"When Jack Bassenti's dog had puppies, he buried all but
one of them alive. He later raped and murdered three women."
"David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam," poisoned his mother's
parakeet out of jealousy. He later shot thirteen young men and
women. Six people died and at least two suffered permanent
disabilities."
"Arthur Shawcross repeatedly threw a kitten
into a lake until the kitten drowned from exhaustion. Killed a
young girl. Then, after serving 15-1/2 years in prison, he killed
11 more women."
"Michael Perry decapitated a neighbor's
dog. He later killed his parents, his infant nephew and two
neighbors."
"Jason Massey killed cats, dogs and cows.
Killed his thirteen year old stepsister & a fourteen year old
boy."
"Patrick Sherrill Stole neighborhood pets and
encouraged his dog to attack them. Killed 14 people at his
workplace."
"Keith Hunter Jesperson, "The Happy Face
Killer," strangled a cat. He is known to have killed at least one
woman."
"Joel Steinburg refused medical treatment for his
adopted daughter Lisa's pet rabbit when it broke its leg. He later
killed her; when she was found, Lisa had extensive bruises all
over her body from repeated abuse."
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