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Man sentenced to prison for tearing head off kitten
Quad-Cities Online ^ | September 19, 2006 10:58 AM | AP

Posted on 09/21/2006 7:09:47 AM PDT by newgeezer

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- A [St. Louis] Metro East man was ordered to spend two years in prison after admitting in court that he tore the head off a kitten in the wake of a fight with his live-in girlfriend.

When it comes to animal abuse cases, "we don't get prison sentences all the time, so it's always good when we do," Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the Madison County State's Attorney's Office, said Tuesday of the case against Jacob Thornton.

Thornton, 21, of Bethalto[, Illinois], was to have had a preliminary hearing last Thursday on the felony animal torture charge but instead pleaded guilty, Smith said.

A judge ordered Thornton's sentence to run concurrently to a prison term related to a parole violation.

Authorities say that after a July 28 dispute between Thornton and his 30-year-old live-in girlfriend, the woman left the home before returning to find her kitten's head and detached body in the front yard.

At the time, Thornton was out on parole on a 2005 aggravated battery conviction.

Four days after he was charged with animal torture, he also was charged with burglarizing a motor vehicle. That case is pending.

Thornton's criminal background, dating to 2002, includes convictions of burglary, attempted robbery, retail theft, probation violations, theft, resisting arrest, criminal trespass to a vehicle and domestic battery.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: animalabuse; decapitation; jacobthornton; prison; shackingup
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To: newgeezer

What a sick sonofabitch.


41 posted on 09/21/2006 8:09:10 AM PDT by RockinRight (She rocks my world, and I rock her world.)
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To: freedumb2003
God made us caretakers of our animal family members.

Which animals are those?

They are like eternal children and require our care and love.

How are they like "eternal children"?

What is your basis for those statements? Personal opinions? Tradition? Scripture?

42 posted on 09/21/2006 8:09:11 AM PDT by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary. You have the right to be wrong.)
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To: wastedyears

Nothing wrong with older women. Although at 21 he still has a lot of maturing to do - 25 and 34, or 31 and 40, or what have you, would be much less of an issue than 21 and 30.


43 posted on 09/21/2006 8:10:28 AM PDT by RockinRight (She rocks my world, and I rock her world.)
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To: tioga

LOL. What took you so long? Yours was post 14, and so entirely predictable.

Every animal abuse thread has this same post. It must be simply God-awful to turn around and see aborted babies wherever you go.


44 posted on 09/21/2006 8:15:27 AM PDT by dmz
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To: newgeezer
Which animals are those?

Cats and dogs primarily. But see the quote from St. Francis of Assisi at #10 for a general statement of our responsibility.

How are they like "eternal children"?

When we take on a pet, we stunt its growth as a "feral" animal. They don't ever grow up, since they don't learn to hunt or forage. They are children for their entire lives.

What is your basis for those statements? Personal opinions? Tradition? Scripture?

Yes.

45 posted on 09/21/2006 8:19:44 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Insultification is the polar opposite of Niceosity)
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To: newgeezer
This guys mistake was not taping the head back on the Kitten and selling it to the blind boy in the neighborhood. Just like what they did to the bird in "Dumb and Dumber". See what perversion Hollyweird Movies make our criminals do? Television gives many criminals their first introduction into crime. Walt Disney made me commit my very first crime at a very young and impressionable age. I would never have had the idea to do it, until I saw it done on TV.
46 posted on 09/21/2006 8:20:25 AM PDT by herkbird (Semper Fi)
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To: RockinRight

"Nothing wrong with older women."


Older women, make beautiful lovers
Older women, they understand
I've been around some, and I have discovered
That older women know just how to please a man.

(Verse)
Everybody seems to love those younger women
From eighteen on up to twenty-five
Well I love 'em too, but I'm tellin' you
Learnin' how to really love, takes a little time.

(Verse)
So baby don't you worry about growin' older
Those young girls ain't got nothin' in you
'Cause it takes some livin', to get good at givin'
And givin' love is just where you could teach them a thing or two.


47 posted on 09/21/2006 8:28:44 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Insultification is the polar opposite of Niceosity)
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To: dmz

It IS God AWFUL that we as a country kill our unborn. Don't like my post don't read it.


48 posted on 09/21/2006 8:31:36 AM PDT by tioga
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To: freedumb2003
see the quote from St. Francis of Assisi at #10 for a general statement of our responsibility.

Yeah, I saw that, and it left me with the same question. "Any of God's creatures" would seem to include chipmunks, mice, rats, snakes, spiders, ... So, I also have to wonder how you feel about mousetraps, flyswatters, etc. I suppose it's conceivable that my dispensing a quick death to them is showing them "compassion and pity." But, is it okay to put out D-CON to control mice and/or rats? How would you feel about my drowning them?

They are children for their entire lives.

You believe they're "eternal"? If so, on what do you base such a belief? Please be specific.

49 posted on 09/21/2006 8:34:53 AM PDT by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary. You have the right to be wrong.)
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To: tioga

We, as a country, do not kill our unborn. That is an individual making that decision.


50 posted on 09/21/2006 8:35:31 AM PDT by dmz
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To: freedumb2003

"Hurting or killing a pet...is the same as hurting or killing a 3 year old child."

I hope you're joking or at least exaggerating your position. Really.


51 posted on 09/21/2006 8:35:39 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: Fawn

So why no penalty for killing a cow?


52 posted on 09/21/2006 8:36:22 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: Eagles Talon IV

Your argument consists of foul language and name-calling.

I didn't even assert a position. I asked two questions.

Why did those questions irritate you so much? Does it make you uncomfortable to think about how you feel and why?


53 posted on 09/21/2006 8:39:38 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: swain_forkbeard
I thought when they kill cows and chickens they don't suffer....at least i hope not.....Why do you think it's ok to torture defensless animals when you feel like it?

CHeck this out:

AIRMAN JAILED FOR STABBING WIFES DOG

54 posted on 09/21/2006 8:42:04 AM PDT by Fawn (http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/toilet_obsession.html)
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To: Sarajevo

Some people keep hamsters, some fish. There are beekeepers and people who like snakes. Some adore their birds.

So was the punishment for killing a cat, or for killing someone's pet, or for destroying someone's property?


55 posted on 09/21/2006 8:44:59 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: dmz
Our laws allow for the killing of the unborn, therefore our country supports the legal right to kill our unborn.....I have no delusions that our "country" is not responsible.

I have a demorcatic Catholic MIL who disclaims any responsibility. She wouldn't vote on this issue and she sits and claims that SHE does not condone abortion and it is not her sin or responsibility. She consciously chooses to disregard a candidate's position on abortion when she votes. She claims it will not matter. I think it will matter when one faces Jesus on our judgment day. Just my own opinion and I act accordingly.

Our "country" sins. America is not perfect, nor innocent.

56 posted on 09/21/2006 8:45:52 AM PDT by tioga
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To: newgeezer

This isn't a Crevo thread -- if you want to go torture kittens, have at it.


57 posted on 09/21/2006 8:46:01 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Insultification is the polar opposite of Niceosity)
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To: swain_forkbeard

No -- I think that hurting a pet is the same as hurting a child.


58 posted on 09/21/2006 8:46:35 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Insultification is the polar opposite of Niceosity)
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To: Fawn

"Why do you think it's ok to torture defensless animals when you feel like it?"

How did you get that idea? Because I asked two questions?


59 posted on 09/21/2006 8:47:45 AM PDT by swain_forkbeard (Rationality may not be sufficient, but it is necessary.)
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To: swain_forkbeard; freedumb2003
I hope you're joking or at least exaggerating your position. Really.

It seems he's dead serious. I mean, he said if someone were to hurt his cat, he would prefer to kill the offender.

My initial thought was that he must be a wiccan.

60 posted on 09/21/2006 8:48:30 AM PDT by newgeezer (Just my opinion, of course. Your mileage may vary. You have the right to be wrong.)
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