Missouri Man Is Sentenced to Probation for Killing Family Dog With Sledgehammer

http://www.freerepublic.com ^ | 1-03 | ap

[Sungirl]

Mo. Man Gets Probation for Killing Dog:

Missouri Man Is Sentenced to Probation for Killing Family Dog With Sledgehammer
The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--A man was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for killing the family dog with a sledgehammer after it bit his son.

Michael Welch, 34, pleaded guilty to felony animal abuse for killing Dusty, a Dalmatian-Labrador mix, in 2001. Welch could have gotten up to five years in prison.

Welch attacked the dog after it bit his 2-year-old son's nose. He said he saw the boy "bleeding and crying and getting stitched up. ... I lost control and I beat Dusty and it was wrong and I apologize for what was done."

The dog's death triggered an outcry from animal activists who gathered more than 30,000 signatures, wore Dusty T-shirts at demonstrations and carried signs demanding "Justice for Dusty."

While on probation, Welch cannot own a pet or drink alcohol and must complete anger management programs, undergo a mental exam and perform community service.

-end-

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[for-q-clinton]

What about coyotes? Are those as sacred as a dog? Or do they get treated as rats? What about a coyote/dog hybrid? Foxes? Rabbits? Hamsters?

I'm just dying to know. I'm a convert. I truly believe dogs and cats are sacred and deserve the same rights as men. But I can't figure out which other animals to include in the mix. OMG: What about the ocean critters? Whales, well sure everyone knows those creatures are sacred and so are the dolphins. But what about a sand shark or catfish.

Dangit, now we have to worry about animals that are born in water and grow up on land. I'd think tad poles shouldn't have rights, but they do grow into frogs which clearly should be an animal with sacred rights.

BTW: How can I be forgiven for sticking a fire-cracker in a frogs mouth when I was a kid? Or was it a toad? If it was a toad, it's ok--right?

[theoriginalgriff]

I've seen dogs running chickens, ducks, sheep and cattle before. It's not a pretty sight, and it don't happen just once, usually. When a dog starts running livestock, they get a taste for it, and they're gonna do it every chance they get if you don't correct that behaviour immediately!

As usual, only one side of the story was presented here. No mention of how many chickens that guy has already lost. One thing for sure, that boy might be a little more careful letting his dogs run more chickens! By the way, are there any "leash laws" in their community?

[for-q-clinton]

Please read the post I was responding to. And also follow that post out between me and sinkspur. You'll see I was making fun of his stupid comment that women can't think.

[petuniasevan]

See my reply #180.

Thanks for standing up to a loon.

[for-q-clinton]

So what you're saying is you agree with sinkspur--women can't think.

Well, you should consider all women and not just your self when making such judgements.

I swear, why can't you people get off of the woman issue. There are many fine women that know what's right and don't just think with their hearts. I really wish you and sinkspur would give them credit.

[petuniasevan]

Perhaps. Maybe you need <sarcasm> and </sarcasm> tags.

The account I gave is still relevant.

[for-q-clinton]

But if I use the sarcasm tag I don't catch as many fish :-)

[for-q-clinton]

You know either you are better at sarcasm than I or your post doesn't stand. I believe sinkspur will take exception to your post. I applaud your knowing to put the dog down and actually carrying it out. There are many men that wouldn't do that.

[petuniasevan]

Sure women can think. I am one; do you really think I would say otherwise?

SOME women, especially the soccermom crowd and the militant animal-rights buttinskis, will react with unthinking emotion, sure.

And I don't agree with sinkspur; just with his pronouncement in answer to your post. Only.

[petuniasevan]

Keep your cats in the house and do not let them hunt mice and cook meats and wash vegetables

Mine are tall enough on their hind legs to reach the sink and stove, but are too small to turn on the faucet or lift a roasting pan into the oven.

[Gigantor]

"I might add that it was absolutely impossible to make him bite. We would pull his tail, rough house with him etc. and he just would not bite."

I suspected that you were an imbecile after reading your first post. Thanks for confirming it with this one!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Unless there are unusual circumstances, any dog which bites a child should be killed.

Bull Sh*t. Kids can be mean to animals, they are all the time.

Some years ago our dog nipped my kid on the cheek after we told the kid repeatedly to keep away from the dog when he was eating. The kid thought he was being cute and stuck his face in the dogs bowl again, and the dog growled and nipped the kid, just breaking the skin on his cheek. The dog is an Akita. If he wanted, he could have ripped the kids face off. But he didn't. The dog let him know he didn't want to be bothered when he was eating. This had happened twice before, the kid didn't listen. Afterwards, we read the kid the riot act.....To this day, my boy and the dog are best of friends......

The guy that did this to the dog is a moronic jackass. He should have just gotton rid of the dog or delt with it in another manner. You notice they didn't say why the family dog bit the kid? I wouldn't want the SOB that did this to his own family dog, as a neighbor.

[geopyg]

Going way back to why your Dad killed the horses near the barn? I think everyone wants to die in their own bed - and maybe your Dad figured it was the same way with the horses. One day your getting fed a carrot - and bang - that's all you know.

However, after a couple of horses get taken out to the "corner of the field" and never coming back, you know the rest of the horses wouldn't take to being lead back there when they got old or lame. (Kind of like people and nursing homes). Sounds like your Dad had a kind heart. Sometimes killing an animal is the right thing to do, and you can do it in a right manner too.

I took in a stray cat back in college and kept it for over a year. The landlady said it had to stay outside, so I fixed up a cardboard box with hay under the enclosed steps to live in. It got hit by a car on the busy road by the house when I was at class.

When I got back, they told me about it. The worst part was that the car didn't kill it, but it was trying to crawl and bleeding from the mouth. The landlady's boyfriend drove 5 miles back and forth to get his gun to put the cat out of its misery. I was mad - why didn't he just take a spade (they were gardening) and chop its head off quickly? To think of that cat suffering made me cry, and mad.

Here's another one. Last year I was on a walk with one of my daughters and a neighbor had an injured squirrel on its yard - it had fallen out of the tree. It was barely crawling (3 feet in 10 minutes) but no blood. The neighbor had found a vet that took in wild animals, but didn't have a box or anything to put it in. I ran home, and my daughter and I returned with a couple of boxes.

We got the squirrel in the box. Then the guy told his mom he was ready (he didn't have an in state driver's license yet), so she had to take them to the vet - about 30 minutes away! Oh, and the vet doesn't take VISA - checks or cash only!

Later on I told my wife that squirrel was lucky it didn't fall in our yard (although I don't think the vet could do much for it).

[TightSqueeze]

Since tigers are not prey, serve no one but themselves and even eat humans, does that make them the most superior beings on the earth?

Wrong! The real reason people don't eat tigers, because to fatten them up, you must feed them cows. Long ago we discovered cows taste better than tigers and are cheaper to raise. Simple food-chain supply and demand.

[vetvetdoug]

You're not the first one to gig me for a run on sentence. Ha!!! Can't your cats jump onto the sink like mine?

[RightOnline]

"The dog's death triggered an outcry from animal activists who gathered more than 30,000 signatures, wore Dusty T-shirts at demonstrations and carried signs demanding "Justice for Dusty.""

This part's a joke, right?

[eloy]

I did.

[SoCal Pubbie]

For some strange reason I can practically hear the banjo music playing every time I read your posts.

[Sungirl]

PJ...SO sorry to hear about your cat.....

[Oberon]

Anyone in here presently have a dog that bit someone???

My parents did. They had a beagle that bit a toddler. They took the dog to the vet for a lethal injection, primarily so the dog's death would be documented. Otherwise, it would have been the bullet.