Teens Could Spend 25 Years in Prison for Allegedly Torturing Cat, Setting It on Fire

What a horrible story. Children can be so cruel. If anyone did this to my cats I would not hesitate to end their lives immediately.

However, sending these kids to jail will not do them any good. It would also be a huge burden on society. So, I have to agree with the other posters that call for community service. Many, many hours spent doing good for animals and people and the community. These kids need to learn in their hearts that what they did was wrong.

[edit on 22-3-2009 by enwaydevil]

[edit on 22-3-2009 by enwaydevil]

I know for a fact that Hell is real.. I've left my body and visited several
afterlife realms, places of great beauty and love, but also places of evil
and darkness, hellish realms. I have found out that although no soul is
forced to stay in Hell forever, you WILL end up there if you don't seek
love and compassion in your life.

It is NOT a pretty place to be. There you are forced to face all your own
hatred, your greed, your lack of compassion and your selfishness until
you finally realize that love is the only way up.. which for some souls can
take thousands of years.

Seek love, compassion and understanding now, before it is too late.
Stop praising jail-time as a ways of revenge on the poor of society..,
if anything, criminals need your help, not your condemnation.

The sight of a child in prison, that is pure malice, ugh.

[edit on (22/3/09) by Wehali]

I've noticed quite a few off-topic posts. There will be no further posts of that nature.

25 years is ridiculous. People kill and eat cats all the time in other countries. Does the means really matter? A dead cat is a dead cat. I swear I've heard of people getting locked away shorter from killing an actually person, stupid.

And I have 2 cats

reply to post by ghaleon12


You have two cats?

Next time your cat is laying on your chest purring and kneading you with its claws, which if you didn't know is a sign of affection. Imagine your animal that loves you so much being tortured and then set on fire.

If you still feel the same then I feel bad for your animals.

Originally posted by ghaleon12
25 years is ridiculous. People kill and eat cats all the time in other countries.

And that would be the fundamental difference. They kill them to eat them, not for sadistic fun.

Does the means really matter? A dead cat is a dead cat.

Dunno, which means do you think causes more undue pain and suffering:

A bullet to the brain and or heart?
Or burning alive?

There's a reason we don't execute prisoners at the stake, or on a cross anymore. And that is the problem with what these two did. They didn't simply kill a cat. It wasn't a quick end for some terminally ill and suffering pet.

They doused it in lighter fluid and set it on fire. One of the worst things that happens when something alive is on fire, you know in between the horrible screams of agony, are the in-breaths. The air you breath in would be heated by the fire, in some situations you may even inhale the flames burning you from the inside out.

So yes, the means and the reasons both matter.

Originally posted by Wehali
No child should ever be tried as an adult, you know why? Because they are
NOT ADULTS!. Every child should have the right of a second chance, and a
third chance, and a fourth chance.. when he becomes an adult it becomes
different, but as long as he's not an adult, he deserves to be forgiven and
to be granted new chances.

The individuals in question are not children; they are 17- and 18-year-old young men, presumably capable of the level of thought standard of other individuals of their age. To consider them children would be absolutely foolish. I understood right from wrong, the illegal from the legal, the cruel from the kind, by the time I hit puberty--I certainly hope young men on the very cusp of legal adulthood (one having already reached it) know this. If they don't, it's to a psychiatric hospital they go.

Originally posted by ghaleon12
25 years is ridiculous. People kill and eat cats all the time in other countries. Does the means really matter? A dead cat is a dead cat. I swear I've heard of people getting locked away shorter from killing an actually person, stupid.

Please, please, for the love of god, read threads before you post. There are only four (closer to three and a half) pages here. To state once again, the teens are not only in trouble for setting a cat alight.
www.foxnews.com...

The title of the article (and consequently, the thread) are misleading. Had it not been clarified numerous times in this thread, any lack of awareness of these facts would be understandable. As it stands, I must be the fourth person to step in and reiterate the facts stated in the article: the 25 year sentence, which has not been applied yet, is related to three distinct charges, only one of which pertains to burning a cat alive.


The younger (17-year-old) criminal is undergoing a separate trial for breaking into an apartment in the same building and beating a sleeping tenant in pursuit of money. It sounds like he'll be doing quite a bit of time, all things considered.

And I agree with some of you that prison time is not in the best interest of society at large. When these men are turned out onto the streets after completing their sentences, they'll likely have the same sadistic tendencies--multiplied by tens--and an even greater arsenal of new tricks, deceptions, and (perhaps) physical prowess. That is not a good combination. I'd suggest therapeutic work with animals (to foster compassion and respect for other creatures) and psychiatric help.




[edit on 22/3/09 by paperplanes]

I see two possible charges, and they were probably tried as adults.

thats why it was 25 years....

EDIT to add:

Probably three charges...

Breaking and Entering

Animal Abuse

Trespassing

heck maybe even vandalism...

[edit on 22-3-2009 by dankanight13]

Sure 25 years in PRISON for cat torture is probably too long, and won't help anybody. They still won't respect other peoples property or let innocent animals mind their own business. And the cat will still be dead.

If it would help they should go through some kind of psych evaluation, and treatment, but I bet the empathy part of their brains never developed, and you can't establish empathy after a certain age, so not much to do there.

One of the things causing empathy to not develop properly is being seriously abused and beaten up as a kid, so that wasn't a solution either.

I can see why people would suggest to put them on fire, but sadly they probably already know that being on fire really really hurts, and that is why they thought it would be funny to do to the cat in their twisted minds...

If the owner wanted revenge and decided to grab a baseball bat and go mid evil on their asses in rage, maybe even breaking a few bones here and there just because they deserved it, I'd be cool with that, but killing them to avenge the cat? I hope not...

Now if people were threatened it would be a different story, I do support the make my day law but should be the last resort.

reply to post by Dark Jester


I for one am glad to know that two such cruel and inhumane souls will not be in the public. That is the kind of behaviour Jeffrey Dalmer exhibited when a teen and young adult, if he had been stopped back then, he may not have had the first victim.

reply to post by eldard


I do not eat flesh and for that very reason. I think these kids should get what they did done to them.

I loves cats and animals as much as humanly possible. But 25 years? The kids, or young men, cleary have some issues. They should get 6-12 months in jail I think for the fire alone, and then some serious mental screening. Because as many posters above have said, the first actions of murderers and serial killers is the torturing and killing of small animals. 25 of your early years is a major part of your lifetime. If killing a cat gets you 25 years, while soldiers and men of service can kill human beings under no real life changing penalty, theres a problem. (When I said soldiers I'm talking in terms of accidental warfare, just a bad example)

reply to post by eldard


So your saying it is ok if they were poor?

Poverty is not an excuse for killing.

reply to post by jd140


I'd gladly eat the beasts if it came to it. People > pets/animals. Remember it. Like I said, people eat cats and dogs in other countries, have a problem with it? If they had set fire to the cat and ate it after, would that have been better?

Put that passion into something useful, its wasted on animals. Imagine how nice the world would be if PETA spent money helping humans.



[edit on 23-3-2009 by ghaleon12]

This is horrible what this youth did to the cat. I am a cat lover, even if the cat doesn't love me. But, I must ask, 25 years? Look, in my area we just had a guy who was under the influence of who knows what all, he had been responsible for another person's death a few years earlier, driving under the influence. He drove over top a young woman, he stopped, he decided, this is something he must flee. The young woman was killed. He did not stop and report her being dead on the highway. He just hoped to get a way with it all. He has just been sentenced to 5 YEARS in prison for this murder. Is this justice? I don't think so. So the death of a kitty pales in comparison to what this guy has done. However, I think the drunk guy who drove over the woman should get life in prison, seeing as how he has killed in this manner before. Despicable that someone would torture and kill a cat. Really. It is. I don't care how many cats my uncle shoots for fun, I cannot condone any of this. But compared to what this local guy who drove over a young woman, 25 years does seem a bit steep. But then, if it was my kitty I would probably beat the kid to death anyway.

Originally posted by Dark Jester

foxnews.com... teenagers could spend 25 years in prison for allegedly torturing and killing a cat they set on fire when they broke into an apartment in New York City.


Angelo Monderoy, 18, and Matthew Cooper, 17, allegedly broke into a vacant apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., on or around Oct. 7, 2008. Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said the pair held the cat down as they poured charcoal lighter fluid on it.

I bet they won't be laughing when they get owned in lock up

 

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[edit on Sun Mar 22 2009 by Jbird]

They're lucky it's not ancient egypt!

They'd be put to death on the spot if they pulled a stunt like that!

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
I agree it's shocking what they did. A cat to me is like a human being, they are full of emotion and needs just like a human, yet their innocence amazes me.

But will prison really help them?

It isn't about helping them. It's about getting them off the streets. Obviously anyone who commits these heinous crimes has some type of psychological deficiency or another. Sentencing them to 25 years would be good for society, not just for them. It prevents them from commiting something worse.

reply to post by Dark Jester


Here in the UK the sentences for people that do this type of thing are rather small so it's nice to see a country taking a stand! Look i'm not a nut job PETA supporter but to do that to an animal for entertainment shows some serious mental problem. These aren't nice people, they aren't good people they are seriously nasty and dangerous people.

26 years? Good.

reply to post by Dark Jester


IMO They should get 25 years just for the Animal Cruelty, how anyone can get a kick out of such things is beyond me, I have hunted in the past and with the looks of economey may do so again but I never take pleasure in killing another livign thing, I take solice in the the fact that Hunting also does the deer population good.

I have a Ball python as a pet who will only eat live mice, I hate mice and rats but I take no joy from feeding her. I have a cat who was not tortured but tormented by his previous owners it took years to gain his trust!

As for cloging the system that is easy to solve if this country was tougher on the more evil crimes of Murder, Rape child Molestation if these crimes all cared the death penalty wow we would have plenty of space in the system.

What is the worst a house cat can do to a human anyhow bite and scratch I hate people like this!

look what they did was incredibly cruel, but 25 years? Seems excessive to me. How many of you eat beef? What they do to cows is pretty horrible also but you wouldn't turn down a juicy prime rib, would you?

You could burn a human being to death and not get 25 years. I'm sorry a cat is a living being but its not a human. There is no comparison between the two.

They deserve prison maybe a few years for pure stupidity but not 25.