I've mentioned before that I think the punishments meted out for animal cruelty are woefully inadequate. While reading this Yahoo story about a disgusting cat-torture film being shown at the Toranto Film Festival, I discovered that even in Canada, hideous cruelty to animals goes almost unpunished. The film is an examination of an actual case of three mutants who torture and murder a cat "for the sake of art." In the actual court case of these pieces of crap:
Power, an ex-vegetarian who once worked in a slaughterhouse, said he intended to eat the cat after he killed it, but one of his roommates called police upon discovering the head in the refrigerator.In court, Power's attorneys said he intended the video to be an art project showing the hypocrisy of society for allowing the killing of some animals for meat, but not others.
Power and his friend Anthony Wennekers, 22, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and mischief charges midway through their 2001 trial.
Power was handed a 90-day sentence, to be served on weekends, followed by 18 months of house arrest. Wennekers was sentenced to time served and released after 11 months in custody.
The third cohort, Matthew Kaczorowski, became a fugitive for 18 months until his arrest in April 2003. He pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief and was sentenced to four months in prison and three years' probation.
Katie Woodward was so incensed after seeing footage of the video in court, she launched the Web site FindMatt.org, which ultimately led police to Kaczorowski in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Update: From Court TV:
As more than 100 animal-rights activists converged on the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival Tuesday to protest a documentary about the torture and murder of a cat, the man who sparked their outrage not only showed up at the rally, but was arrested.Convicted cat killer Jesse Power emerged from behind the crowd of reportedly peaceful protesters in front of a downtown Toronto theater minutes before the premiere of "Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat."
"We couldn't believe our eyes. He knows how we feel about him, but still he came right up in our faces as if to provoke us," said Suzanne Lahaie, co-founder of Freedom for Animals, the group that organized the protest. "It was so nervy of him, but we kept our cool. The police thanked us later."
Lahaie said Power exchanged a few words with protesters before Toronto police led him into the theater. When they brought him back out, he was in handcuffs.
Power was arrested for breach of peace and released two hours later, after the film's conclusion. Power is currently facing unrelated theft charges.