A part of me feels satisfaction when I read about people getting stiff jail sentences for abusing animals. But I still get angry at the thought that anyone would treat a pet inhumanely, as if dogs and cats were incapable of feeling pain.
I just finished reading a story about a man in Redwood City, Calif., who pleaded no contest to charges that he kicked his girlfriend's Chihuahua to death because it urinated and defecated in their bed last March. The man was sentenced to nine months in jail but was released after receiving credit for time served.
Chiquita, a four-year-old female, was kicked several times and sustained punctured lungs and a damaged liver. A veterinarian was unable to bring the Chihuahua back to life and initially said it had died of an immune-system problem. Only a necropsy revealed the other injuries.
It's incomprehensible why some people treat pets as objects rather than living creatures. Maybe tough sentences -- and even longer jail time -- will make them realize that society won't tolerate such cruel treatment.
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