Tarazet

Shocking Cruelty

I hate mentioning sickness like this and I try to minimize it here. But I think that once in a while it is important to remind folks that we all have to be on the look-out for animal cruelty -- and report it -- when we see it. From Reuters:

A Texas man was charged with animal cruelty in the death of a young dog whose snout was taped shut to prevent it from barking and disturbing his afternoon nap, police said on Friday.

According to police, Richard Swift, 42, is suspected of wrapping duct tape around the muzzle, head and neck of a 1-year-old black Labrador retriever named Bull. The dog, who was outside for several hours in 95-degree (35 Celsius) heat, could not cool down by panting.

Richard Swift, 42, of The Colony, near Dallas, was arrested on July 14 and charged with animal cruelty, police said. If convicted, he could face up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Bull was euthanized after suffering from heat stroke, veterinarians who treated the dog said.

Swift, the brother of the dog's owner, apparently let Bull out of the house so he could sleep. When the dog started barking to be let back in, Swift taped his mouth shut and left Bull outside in the Texas heat "to teach the dog a lesson," The Colony police report said.

Swift (how's that for an oxymoronic name) is a disgusting and evil piece of garbage who should suffer the exact same fate as the poor dog. And this story shows just how poor and weak our laws are in protecting animals and punishing the mistreatment of them. As an example (from the UK) see this. The most jail time that Swift could do if he is convicted is two years. It should be two centuries. It's too bad that inmates generally don't give the same reception to animal abusers as they do to child molesters.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at July 24, 2004 08:11 AM