Posted on 04/22/2002 8:57:10 PM PDT by Terriergal
Canadian Cat-Torturers Escape Jail, Activists Fume
Fri Apr 19, 2:11 PM ET
By Natalie Jikerjian
TORONTO (Reuters) - Two Canadians who skinned a cat alive, and video-taped their venture claiming it was a performance art project, were sentenced to jail on Thursday, but one will serve his sentence at weekends, while the second walked free because of time served during the trial.
In comments and sentences that infuriated animal rights activists, Ontario Court Judge Ted Ormston ignored the prosecution's plea to jail the two for the maximum of 2-1/2 years.
The crime was "not the worst offense possible," he said. "There are worse ways that this cat could have died."
Jesse Power, 22, and Anthony Wennekers, 25, both from Toronto, had pleaded guilty to charges including cruelty to animals.
They filmed the cat as they tempted it with a mouse, then skinned and decapitated and disemboweled it, and left its body dangling from a coat hanger.
The 10-minute video, shown twice during the court proceedings, sickened spectators as they listened to the cat's increasingly weak and plaintive meows.
"This cat absolutely suffered and the videotape of its torture and ultimate death was one of the most upsetting things I've seen," said Amy White, director of communications for the Toronto Humane Society.
"I am extremely upset that the punishment for Jesse Power and Anthony Wennekers does not equal the severity of this horrific crime."
Power, a vegetarian and a student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, had said the video was an artistic statement about the suffering of animals used for meat, according to newspaper reports.
Judge Ormston sentenced Power to 90 days in jail, to be served over 16 weekends, followed by an 18-month conditional sentence. Wennekers was given time served because he had remained in jail since his arrest last May.
The two men also received three years probation each.
Police have not yet found a third person who appeared in the video, identified only as Matt. Flyers circulated in Toronto and at the courthouse urged the public to help find him and bring him to justice.
Canada's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incensed at Thursday's sentences.
"Killing any animal in the name of art is deplorable and unacceptable," said the society's chairwoman, Vicky Earle. "There is no excuse for such cruel and criminal acts. Individuals such as these should never be allowed to possess or have contact with animals again."
How much do you wanna bet Sungirl does some things more than the law allows sometimes... hmmm....
MOST DRANK on their week long deer hunting trips
I would imagine it would be hard to keep from dehydrating if one didn't drink for a week. OH you meant alcohol. Do you ever drink in the evening and then drive the next morning? Shame on you. I'll be a lot of hunters drink a beer or two in the evening and then go out hunting during the day. Shame on them.
Your whole argument is trying to say hunting is bad because of these jerks I heard of breaking the law. Therefore you DID group everyone into the same bunch. Don't go pulling a Bill Clinton on us now.
A woman who disagrees with your position on hunting is a terrorist? What happened, did she e-mail you a pipe-bomb? C'mon, grow up.
Now that I don't know... but let's hope not. They do tend to be very cruel and disrespectful of other members of their own species though.
Well, if it says so then it must be true ***END SARCASM***
I don't see why anyone should believe the perps' explanation.
Even if it is for real, that doesn't say anything about vegetarians or animal rights supporters in general. Most animal lovers would condemn stupid and cruel acts like this one, whatever the motivation.
While on the topic, don't club groups like HSUS or SPCA with groups like PETA. While the latter are certainly wackos, the former do a lot of useful work. The HS in my city works with local animal control to manage strays, put them up for adoption, help locate lost animals, provide services to pet owners in the area to address behavioral and other problems. The volunteers do a ton of useful work, all of it non-political, and they all genuinely love animals.
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