OK, I know he prevented more sequels, but damn... that's just wrong.
Posted on 07/30/2010 5:20:22 PM PDT by Chet 99
Buddy the dog's killer sentenced to 3 years in prison The man who dragged Buddy the dog to death atop Colorado National Monument will spend three years in federal prison for the crime.
Posted: 4:46 PM Jul 30, 2010
Reporter: Ashley Prchal
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - The man who dragged Buddy the dog to death atop Colorado National Monument will spend three years in federal prison for the crime.
As news of Steven Romero's sentencing spread Friday morning staff at the Monument rejoiced. “Here at the Monument today, we are so pleased that he received the maximum sentence for this crime,” says Superintendent Joan Anzelmo.
On charges of aggravated animal cruelty, Romero was sentenced to three years in federal prison and once he's out, he'll spend 12 months on supervised probation.
“Our hats are totally off to our Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Heldmeyer who worked tirelessly to prosecute this case,” says Anzelmo.
On Dec. 30 of last year 38–year–old Romero murdered Buddy the dog by tying a rope around his neck and dragging him behind his pickup truck until he was dead.
“It was one of the most horrific scenes any of us have had to see,” says Anzelmo.
Officials say Romero's sister, Melissa Lockhart, who is also facing charges in Buddy's death, stole Buddy from the Leber family's truck in Delta. They say she then gave the dog to her brother to get rid of after Buddy killed her cat.
“Just to think that he was put through something like that, it hurts really, really bad,” says Buddy's owner Sacha Leber.
Buddy's death has enraged many. A Facebook page called ‘Demand Justice for Buddy’ has more than 260,000 followers. And a memorial was put up at Roice Hurst Animal Shelter in his honor.
But with so many drawn to this sad case, the question remains, is three years in federal prison enough for Romero?
“I’d be willing to offer my car to drag him around for a while and see how he likes it,” says Robbie Maybon, Grand Junction resident.
“I think he should have gotten more because it was such a heinous crime,” says Willy Rensenbrink of Grand Junction.
“I don't think it needed to be longer than three years, but it definitely needed to be the maximum penalty,” says Grand Junction resident Amy Graebner.
“It's a life form just like ours. I can guarantee that if he dragged a person across the Monument, he would have been in a lot longer than three years,” says Matt Chapman of Grand Junction.
“For killing a dog, I believe it's like killing a human. It should be five to 10 years,” says Brad Sweet, Grand Junction resident.
Many hope Buddy's death will bring more awareness to animal cruelty so something like this doesn't happen again.
Romero will also have to pay $500 in fines and $343 in restitution to Buddy's owners.
His dance card’s gonna be full.
OK, I know he prevented more sequels, but damn... that's just wrong.
OK, I know he prevented more sequels, but damn... that's just wrong.
“Romero will also have to pay $500 in fines and $343 in restitution to Buddy’s owners.”
Excuse me? The article didn’t specify “Buddy’s” breed, but my dog, also named Buddy, cost me more than that just to adopt, let alone vet costs. If I had caught the bastard stealing my dog I’d have shot him, let alone what he did later to him.
should have been dragged to death himself
“His dance card’s gonna be full.”
Oh, you are so right.
“If I had caught the bastard stealing my dog I’d have shot him.”
Yup.
Some people don’t know how much we love dogs!! We even have an oil painting of one we lost!!
I have a question for the FR ladies: why do you think that women get involved with men like this? Don’t they sense the cruelty streak in the men they choose for boyfriends?
Human baby-killing is OK, but don’t hurt the soul-less dog that wont be in heaven anyway.
Kill the pre-born baby! Scramble it and suck it out through a vacuum hose. Buddy had it no worse.
1500 times a day people!
Losers!
Brad Sweet, moral moron of the century. A DOG’S LIFE IS NOT THE SAME AS A HUMAN BEING’S. While animal abuse is sick and Romero deserves to sit in prison, equating a dog/rat/chicken/pig, etc., to a human is depraved.
Perhaps Buddy’s owner should have kept a closer eye on him. He killed a cat. I see to it that my dogs are kept behind a fence where they can’t get to other peoples pets. If he had been watched better, these people couldn’t have stolen him. I bet he was running loose. Before everybody gets on my case, dragging the dog to death was a horrible thing to do but I’m sure poor kitty didn’t have an easy death either.
I bet if this story had been written in gory details about how that dog mauled and killed that poor defenseless cat, everyone here would be saying that damn dog needs to be put to death. OK I’m going away now.
In another article, they specify that these cretins stole the dog and brought it to their home, whereupon the dog snuffed the cat at that home. THEN they put the dog to death.
Of course, if this was an “outdoor” cat that was using Buddy’s lawn as a toilet, then all bets are off.
Well that changes things a bit. However most cats won’t go behind a fence where there is a dog.
That means a minimum of 80% of the sentence will be served. That also means: if you're going to be an asshole, do it at home, not at any national park, monument, or reservation.
Like I said, please do it at home.
What he did is inexcusable, but 3 years of a man’s life is an awfully stiff penalty for being mean to a dog. I shoot strays routinely with my county sheriff’s blessing. It doesn’t seem to matter much to the dogs why or how I do it.
I noticed that the quotes in the excerpt only reflect thoughts of liberal idiots.
I’m a pet lover and have had many cats and dogs in my 67 years. I regretted every time one of them died.
However, killing a dog is NOT equivalent to killing a human. I think some folks are waaaaay overboard in wanting this jerk to be punished as though he had killed a person.
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