Oh, teenagers. They can be good and from this incident they surely know how to be very bad. Is there no limit to cruelty?
According to reports, two teens in eastern Kentucky decided they wanted to go out and shoot guns. At horses. Several of the horses died and one was shot more than 30 times.
In response, PETA set their sights and targeted the teens, wanting the full force of the law brought down upon them. The animal rights group has written to the Pike County Attorney requesting he vigorously prosecute the young men, aged 17 and 18, arrested for allegedly shooting horses for fun.
The boys have admitted to the crime, police say, but court officials will not release information because of the teen’s ages.
6 Comments
Noah
on #Yes, because wasting two more lives will really help bring those horses back to life. And what better place to teach two young men compassion than prison.
Meanwhile, the government legally rounds up thousands of horses, kills plenty of them in the process, places the rest in holding areas for the rest of their lives, or sells them into slavery. They are eradicating free-living horses from entire areas. Let’s get our priorities straight.
DreamingTwilight
on #Yet letting those boys off – even though I agree prison wouldn’t teach them compassion and instead of teaching them what they did wrong may only create more anger in them – would be continueing to show people that animal lives don’t matter much.
Ideally there would be better punishments like having the boys do service with a group that helps horses (closely monitored of course)
moyesii
on #Er, those boys are dangerous, and I’m glad that PETA is going after them. PETA does do some stupid things, but this is what they do well. It is a priority to put these men in prison, not only because they’re sociopaths, but also because it sends a clear message that animal abuse won’t be tolerated.
Here’s another recent case where justice was done (or maybe not enough?):
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/us-teen-brothers-sentenced-to-10-years/n20070209194609990007
Stopping the roundup and slaughter of wild horses is also important, but these are two separate issues and need to be handled differently. Fortunately we have different NGOs to tackle these different issues.
Patrick Kwan
on #Far too often, people who commit animal cruelty are let go with a slap on the wrist – if that. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve heard of some heinous animal cruelty and the perp was let go with community service or probation. I’m glad that PETA is putting effort into this. Besides, highlighting the story of one or two is a great way to get folks to see the bigger issue. Also, PETA is not just demanding jail time, they are pushing for counseling and psychiatric help as well for the perps.
Noah
on #Patrick, people aren’t seeing “the bigger issue” because of this. They are seeing “two sick individuals who abuse horses.” No one is questioning whether humans ought to enslave horses in the first place.
From PETA’s letter: “The defendantsevidently carrying two rifles and a pistoldrove to a strip mine to shoot rabbits but apparently decided to shoot horses instead.” PETA would have had nothing to do with this case if the boys shot rabbits instead.
Focusing on “extreme” cruelty distracts us from focusing on societally condoned, institutionalized exploitation. How many people appalled by these boys’ actions shout their condemnation through a mouth of hamburger. Let’s get our priorities straight. Should a well-heeled animal advocacy group go after a couple of (poor? abused?) rural boys or the real perpetrators of animal exploitation?
The animal rights movement will not be able to work in solidarity with other social justice movements if we believe that sending people to prison is a good solution. Everyone else is working to decriminalize things, not put more people away. For more information, check out the work of Critical Resistance, a prison abolition group.
sarah1
on #Good post Noah. I think people have an initial knee jerk reaction to such cruelty, especially when they have seen a lot of it, personally or in the news and lets face it so many animal abusers get of easily, the maximum, maximum normally being a few years in prison. Yet prison doesnt really work for, except for those who make big bucks of it, and makes criminals more criminal. What would be best is if the two boys had to work for a set amount of time on an animal sanctuary, they usually need volunteers to help with all duties and they will be around animals and also other workers/volunteers. Such cruelty should not go unnoticed, certainly, and focusing on it doesnt mean that we cannot, or should not, focus on wider cruelty issues, but we shouldnt just jam straight into the neo-cons arms of lock em all up when they doesnt tend to work.