Police plead for help in duck massacre case

CAMPBELL, Calif. (AP) - Seven weeks after a motorist intentionally killed a gaggle of ducks at a car wash, police say the case is going cold."We're reaching a dead end in the investigation," Campbell police Capt. Russ Patterson said Saturday

An Aug. 5 surveillance videotape showed a man driving up and intentionally heading for the ducks, crushing several with his car. The driver mows down several more ducks before jumping out of his car and killing some with his hands. The attack went on for 16 minutes. Ten ducks were killed.

Police received 50 to 75 calls a day in the weeks following the killings.Since then, tips have slowed and a reward fund has grown to $22,000.Lucky, one of the ducks who was injured by the car lived

He couldn't have been "too late for work" or whatever, if he had time to also get out and chase several ducks down to kill with his bare hands.

As to "no evidence" or "no studies" liking animal cruelty/torture to crimes against human, here's some anecdotal evidence, and a link or two. You can google mre, if you really wish to; this was just a quick, sloppy search to get a few examples. I'm sure if you really wanted to see any evidence, you could easily find it.
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"Some of the most striking evidence for a link between animal cruelty and human violence lies in the case histories of many of the 20th century's most infamous criminals."

"Mass-murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer killed neighbors' pets and impaled a dog's head on a stick."

"Patrick Sherril, who murdered 14 co-workers and then killed himself, stole pets, then tied them up and allowed his own dog to mutilate them."

"David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam," shot his neighbor's labrador retriever."

"Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," shot arrows into boxes of trapped cats and dogs."

"Brenda Spencer, who fired 40 shots into a crowd of children, murdering 2 and wounding 9, had a history of setting the tails of neighborhood cats and dogs on fire."

"Edmund Emil Kemper III, who murdered his mother and 7 other women, used to abuse cats and dogs."

"Carol Edmund Cole, who murdered 35 people, admitted that his first violent act was strangling a puppy."

"Richard Allen Davis, kidnapper and murderer, doused cats with gasoline and set them on fire."

"Studies of prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early records of animal cruelty. There is also a high correlation between family violence and animal cruelty. A study in 1983 of New Jersey families referred to youth and family services for reasons of child abuse reported that 88% of cases had at least one member of the household who physically abused animals. An English researcher found that 83% of families reported for animal abuse also had children listed at high risk of abuse or neglect."

http://www.arkonline.com/violence.html
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“Murderers ... very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Studies have now convinced sociologists, lawmakers, and the courts that acts of cruelty toward animals deserve our attention. They can be the first sign of a violent pathology that includes human victims.

Animal abuse is not just the result of a minor personality flaw in the abuser but rather a symptom of a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty toward animals don’t stop there; many of them move on to their fellow humans.

The FBI has found that a history of cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appear in its computer records of serial rapists and murderers, and the standard diagnostic and treatment manual for psychiatric and emotional disorders lists cruelty to animals as a diagnostic criterion for conduct disorders.

A study conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans. The majority of inmates scheduled to be executed for murder at California’s San Quentin penitentiary “practiced” their crimes on animals, according to the warden.

http://www.helpinganimals.com/a-abuse.html

I am sure that there are correlations, but I when I refer to scientific studies, the proof comes with numbers, methodology, and sample sizes. I have looked at studies that purport to prove something, when their methodology doesn't follow the scientific method, their math is wrong, etc. Even if there is a correlation, you cannot assume that this man will automatically kill a human in the future. When the man kills a human being, then we can talk. Everyone who kills an animal will not necessarily kill a human being.

I will give you an example. I had a friend who had a problem with a dog. The dog continuously entered his garage and spread garbage all over. He ran the dog off several times. One day, he found the dog in his garage, hit the button to close the door, and beat the crap out of him. Even this didn't dissuade the dog, because one day he came home from work and the dog was positioned in the gate opening to his pool growling at his mother-in-law and wife. He had finally had enough. He got his shotgun-problem solved. That is how you deal with animals. They are not people.

You don't know whether the man was late for work. Perhaps he didn't want to kill the ducks, but they refused to get out of the way. How long was he supposed to sit there? If he did kill the ducks, which were the private property of the car wash owner just to be killing them, then fine. He can be prosecuted for destruction of private property. I will never support the prosecution of human beings for killing animals in most cases, and here's why.

I don't want people like my friend to go to jail for handling a real problem in the only way that it can be handled. Sure may say that you should call animal control. That rarely helps the matter. They will issue a warning. If you call again, the owner has to go to court, but even that opens up another discussion. I had a nutcase neighbor call animal control about my dog simply because she was angry at me about another matter. I had another neighbor call animal control about my dog even though his dogs freely roamed the neighborhood, and my dog pretty much stayed in the yard.

I place humans on one level, and animals below us. By the way, I have never killed an animal, with the one exception of a very large snake that I shot to protect my family. I am not a hunter, and I do not go out of my way to harm animals. I am not advocating that animals should be treated inhumanely, but we really don't know why the man killed these ducks. Unless we know that he killed them gratuitously, no charges should be brought forth, an then only misdemeanor charges at the most. They are not people.

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