Pet cruelty charges dismissed

[Sombeech]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660206488,00.html


Clint L. Wilkes on Monday pleaded guilty to an amended charge of straight assault, which replaces the domestic violence charge, and entered a plea of no contest to one count of animal abandonment.
As part of the plea agreement, two counts of animal cruelty were dismissed.
All the charges are class B misdemeanors, each of which carries a maximum potential sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, although a judge can suspend jail time and impose probation with a variety of conditions.

[rockgremlin]

So he was officially charged with straight assault then?

I guess it's better than being charged with gay assault...

[Sombeech]

So he was officially charged with straight assault then?

I guess it's better than being charged with gay assault...

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[rockgremlin]

"The animal abandonment charge came to light when neighbors observed a gray male kitten that had been abandoned."

"Animal lover and activist Anne Davis later said she was disappointed in the plea bargain, although she was pleased the judge noted the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence. Davis is co-founder of a local organization that is pushing Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to call a special session to enact "Henry's law," a proposal that would make animal cruelty a third-degree felony that could be punished by up to five years in prison. It is named after a dog called Henry, who was burned in an oven and blinded in one eye with a leaf blower by Marc Christopher Vincent, according to Vincent's ex-wife, Rhonda Kamper."




Ok, here we go again.....HUGE difference between abandoning a kitten, and cooking a dog alive in an oven, then blinding him with a leaf-blower. If the new animal cruelty law is passed, this dude could land 5 years in jail for abandoning a kitten. :lame: Who are the numb-nuts making these laws?

Am I the only one with common sense these days?

[Sombeech]

If the new animal cruelty law is passed, this dude could land 5 years in jail for abandoning a kitten. :lame: Who are the numb-nuts making these laws?


If you're going to do it, go big. :haha:

[rockgremlin]

If the new animal cruelty law is passed, this dude could land 5 years in jail for abandoning a kitten. :lame: Who are the numb-nuts making these laws?


If you're going to do it, go big. :haha:

Ya, he should have tossed it off a second story balcony or something. If you're gonna do the time, at least do the crime.

[Scott Card]

So he was officially charged with straight assault then?

I guess it's better than being charged with gay assault...

:roflol: Never thought of it that way before. That is a funny way to look at it. I have assisted clients plead to "straight" assault, "straight" reckless driving, "straight" disorderly conduct, "straight" possession of drugs.... etc. I may have to rethink my terminology next time....

[JP]

Poor PETA :haha:

[rockgremlin]

UPDATE: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Maximum Penalty Sought for Kitten Abuse Case
March 30th, 2007 @ 10:30am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Animal advocates are now urging people to encourage a judge to impose the maximum sentence on a Kearns man who pleaded guilty to abusing kittens.

Clint L. Wilkes was accused of getting free kittens from classified ads and then abusing them. Authorities say he's motive was to maintain contact with his ex-girlfriend by asking her to help with the injured animals.

Wilkes pleaded guilty to an amended assault charge this week as part of a plea deal. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two counts of animal cruelty.

The Humane Society of Utah wants residents to contact Judge Peggy Acomb in writing and urge her to impose the maximum penalty on Wilkes, which is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

His sentencing is set May 21st.



Since it was kittens, people are outraged.....but what if it was rock lobsters? Do you think anybody would bat an eyelash if this guy were torturing rock lobsters!? NO WAY!


Animal rights activists are such hypocrites!!

[Sombeech]

Here kitty kitty.

[Shan]

They need to make a law for spaying and neutering cats and dogs. Then there wouldn't be all these surplus free kittens for sickos to take and abuse. Not that it would end animal torture, but then there's less animals to actually abandon.

[nefarious]

Ok, here we go again.....HUGE difference between abandoning a kitten, and cooking a dog alive in an oven, then blinding him with a leaf-blower. If the new animal cruelty law is passed, this dude could land 5 years in jail for abandoning a kitten. :lame: Who are the numb-nuts making these laws?

Am I the only one with common sense these days?Nah, I've been against "tough on crime" legislation since the get-go. In principle, it seems like a good idea, but in practice, out of control prosecutors invariably start putting people in prison for minor infractions.

[Shan]

People who have tortured companion animals may move on to poeple or already have. Studies show they are linked. Henry's offender broke the ribs on his baby daughter 12 years ago and the mom at the time didn't press charges. i think there needs to be something.

[rockgremlin]

Henry's offender broke the ribs on his baby daughter 12 years ago and the mom at the time didn't press charges.


That's when child protective services should have stepped in and confiscated the child.

[troutfisher]

What the story does not say, is that the guy broke the kittens legs and tortured them. I am in favor of Henry's law, not only for the animals, but for the simple fact that it may stop future cases of abuse, wether it be human or animal. If you don't believe me, you should go to at least one of the humane society's fundrasiers. they can't do it alone.

[nefarious]

What the story does not say, is that the guy broke the kittens legs and tortured them. I am in favor of Henry's law, not only for the animals, but for the simple fact that it may stop future cases of abuse, wether it be human or animal.Well, OK. If we can just get the numbnut legislators--the ones to which Rockgremlin referred--to distinguish between animal abandonment and outright torture, then I think everyone would pretty much agree with you. I would. Abandonment is bad enough, but I don't think it warrants a felony charge.

[nefarious]

Addendum: I once killed a dog that someone had hit and left to die along State Street in Happy Valley about a decade ago. I took him out with a large rock to the head, which might have seemed pretty brutal to anyone who saw it (nobody did), but it was an act of kindness. Imagine the injustice of charging someone like me with a felony for doing the right thing, and I promise you there are prosecutors who would do it in a heartbeat. Not sure if I have a point, just something to think about that is along the same general lines of the discussion.

[rockgremlin]

What the story does not say, is that the guy broke the kittens legs and tortured them. I am in favor of Henry's law, not only for the animals, but for the simple fact that it may stop future cases of abuse, wether it be human or animal.Well, OK. If we can just get the numbnut legislators--the ones to which Rockgremlin referred--to distinguish between animal abandonment and outright torture, then I think everyone would pretty much agree with you. I would. Abandonment is bad enough, but I don't think it warrants a felony charge.

Bingo. Abandonment is one thing, outright torture is another. Still not sure it warrants a felony charge though.

[Shan]

I believe intentional and malicious torture should be a felony. People have done some horrible things to cats and dogs - like beating it to near death, taping it's legs together, then dragging it by a rope around it's neck from the back of a pick up. That can't and shouldn't be a slap on the wrist! If a human can do something that torturous and cruel to a helpless animal - imagine what they could do to a person or already does to a person. They don't necessarily stop with pets. They are a menace to society. More than half the states in the US already made it a felony. I forgot how many haven't, but only a few still haven't made it a felony.

Nefarious - if you did go to court because someone saw you I guess you could argue it was left to die by someone else and you thought it was an act of kindness. I don't know how bad the dog was off - I wasn't there. I probably couldn't have done it personally. I was in a similar situation as a teen and had to have a neighbor come over to put a 80% squashed kitten out of its misery. Intentional and malicious are my key words however.