Posted on 03/13/2011 1:32:45 PM PDT by B Knotts
NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn teenager is facing two-years in prison for killing her brother's pet hamster.
Monique Smith, 19, is charged with one felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals for allegedly killing the 4-ounce hamster during a family dispute last June.
Witnesses say the girl grabbed the hamster, choked it and threw it outside the house.
Authorities say the teenager suspected her brother of killing her own hamster earlier in the day.
"Sadly, very often, pets find themselves in the middle of these situations," said ASPCA Assist. Dir., Joe Pentangelo.
"A family will have a disagreement and unfortunately the animal is the recipient of misdirected or redirected rage."
The hamster died from blunt force trauma, liver damage and a brain hemorrhage, he said.
1) a human being is facing two years in prison for killing a hamster
2) we are paying public employees to do autopsies on hamsters
Say what you will about the teenager deserving some sort of punishment...to where is this ultimately going to lead? Will mouse traps be outlawed in the next 20 years? I wonder.
Get the thread and find a weed.
The girls at work decided to cure her. They called and said they were from the SPCA and someone had reported her as not making out a local police report and that she would be fined $50.00.
My daughter went nuts...she was boiling...
We all started laughing and told her it was only a joke.
I swear she aims for squirrels now.
OK.
This 'punishment' is something the family should hand out, and not the court.
Question: How did the issue end up in the hands of the law ? Did the parents turn her in?
But if his pregnant girlfriend asked him to punch her in the stomach there would be absolutely no charges. He would probably even get a scholarship.
Put the prosecutor in prison for two years instead.
That’s a good question. Naturally, the article doesn’t explain that.
2 years in prison is ridiculous
2 years probation would be too much
You are correct. Our sense of priorities becomes more and more skewed all the time.
So, will the prosecutor charge anyone who kills a rat?
I’m betting the kid told someone at school!
OMG! I think my cat may be a serial killer!
Sew up the plants.
Ha, shirly you jest!
There was a thread here a day or so ago with FReepers saying she should serve every day!
I can’t believe we have a felony punishment for killing a pet rodent.
Animals can have no rights and cannot respect rights. All animals are only property.
Who squealed?
I mean besides the hamster.
FYI, there was a thread about a kid that broke a window or something so the father wanted to teach him a lesson and called the cops. When the cops got there the father explained that he just wanted to scare him. The cops agreed and the kid was arrested and eventually went to court. By then, the father couldn’t stop it.(these are approximate details but the gist is true)
The kid wound with a year in prison. While in, he joined a gang. When he got out, he had record and his life was pretty much shot. Got involved with the gang again.
Can’t remember exactly, but I think wound up killing himself in the end.
Bottom line. Don’t mess with the cops and the courts. They are not playthings. Thing get way out of control, way too fast.
... yea but killing unborn human babies is ok
There is a third notable item, which is this: someone called the police, almost certainly someone from the family.
If you don’t want law enforcement and the DA’s office involved in your life, don’t invite them in the first place.
If you invite the police and justice system in to do your parenting for you, shut up and accept what comes next. You asked for it.
That's probably a serious offense -- but in WI, death threats against republicans are no big deal.
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