[Calpernia]

Ok, I'll bite. Why is it excessive?

[babygene]

"Ok, I'll bite. Why is it excessive?"

Because we often do not punish crimes against people as harshly. Case in point: On the news tonight a woman who killed her newborn and dumped it in a dumpster was sentenced to 2 years today. That was in Idaho, one of the more conservative states...

It's also quite possible that a person (dirt bag in this case) would not realize that taping a dog's mouth shut would kill it. Dogs are muzzled all the time without ill effect to the dog.