Posted on 08/14/2002 3:05:45 AM PDT by Inge_CAV
Officers bury tortured cat, investigate dog’s death
By Bernie Delinski
Staff Writer
August 14, 2002
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TUSCUMBIA - A small marker stands at the small mound of newly dug dirt behind the Colbert County Animal Control Office.
"Jump over the rainbow bridge into the green pastures below and run free, little friend," it reads.
The saying is a prayer traditionally given at funerals of police dogs killed in the line of duty. But Tuesday, it adorned the small grave of a cat.
Animal control officers buried the cat a day after they discovered its burned body in a wooded area near the Sheffield home where it lived.
The cat was intentionally burned, authorities say. They are looking for the person responsible. They intend to arrest him on a felony animal cruelty charge, said Richie Michael, cruelty officer for the animal control office.
The cat apparently was hung by the neck with a shoestring, sprayed with lighter fluid and set on fire Sunday at a party at the owner's 1505 Eighth St. residence. The owner is not the suspect.
Someone called a Colbert County sheriff's deputy about the incident Monday morning, and animal control officers found the cat shortly thereafter, Michael said.
It was in such bad shape they had to euthanize it.
That marked the second time in the last few days that the office has investigated a case involving cruelty so severe that it resulted in the animal's death.
Michael said officers also found a pit bull mix dead outside a Colbert County residence Friday.
The dog was against a piece of paneling. The animal was hung there by a chain that was pulled through a hole in the panel and tied to a fence, Michael said.
A 5-pound weight also was tied to the dog, he said. Michael didn't go into more detail on the case because authorities are investigating and intend to present it to a Colbert County grand jury.
"We want that to be tried as a felony," he said, "because he intended to harm the dog."
The Pet Protection Act was passed by the Legislature in 2000. The act makes it a Class C felony in Alabama to intentionally inflict intense pain upon or cause serious injury or death to an animal.
The act is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
The law is nicknamed the "Gucci Law" after a dog that was burned in 1994 in Mobile. Doug James, the man who took over ownership of Gucci after the abuse, sought to have such acts of animal cruelty made a felony.
Gov. Don Siegelman signed the bill into law in 2000, with Gucci sitting alongside him.
James, a Shoals native, said Tuesday there is a connection between animal abuse and domestic violence.
James is part of an abuse awareness program in Mobile that pertains to abuse of children, spouses, elderly residents, people with disabilities and animals.
He said the program covers all those aspects because they have discovered they typically are interrelated.
"The person who abuses animals - that's just practice," James said. "We have them all in the program because it's a cycle."
"It involves a situation between the powerful and the powerless, which is where the abuse of children, wives, elderly, handicapped and animals come in," he said.
"That sort of thing is just nauseating."
He said the abuser typically is a man "exercising his testosterone."
"They think it makes them bigger, but it makes them much smaller," James said.
He said he has mixed feelings every time the Gucci law is used.
"I'm glad it punishes the people who do these things, but the bad part is, it happens after they commit the act."
Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/732383/posts
"The Pet Protection Act was passed by the Legislature in 2000. The act makes it a Class C felony in Alabama to intentionally inflict intense pain upon or cause serious injury or death to an animal.Good for the people of Alabama.The act is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. "
However, I will consider a contribution towards the purchase of lighter fluid by the owner of a tortured pet. : )
Just try to eat a bowl of ice cream in front them.......... : )
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