Amy SF
February 8th, 2009, 08:23 PM
Animal cruelty crackdown in Los Angeles has results
Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
Officers Ramon Muniz and Kim Lormans of the Los Angeles Police Department Animal Cruelty Task Force walk through the North Central Animal Shelter dog kennels looking for animals that might have been fighting or abused.
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People involved in dogfighting, cockfighting and other abuse are targeted by groups from the LAPD and district attorney. The number of criminal cases filed has jumped.
By Jack Leonard
February 8, 2009
Furious that his girlfriend had broken up with him and stopped taking his calls, Steven Butcher decided to take his anger out on the couple's small puppy.
"Every time you . . . don't pick up the phone, I am beating the dog," Butcher said in an angry voice-mail message he left for his ex-girlfriend. In a later message, as the dog yelped and cried in the background, he said: "You got some more of the dog getting beat." When police officers arrived at Butcher's Reseda home, they found Nelia, the pit bull puppy, shivering in a sink with cold water running over her. The animal's jaw had been broken, her eye sockets had been fractured and several of her ribs had been cracked.
Butcher, 23, was charged and convicted last year of animal cruelty -- one of a growing number of serious animal abuse cases in Los Angeles, where police and prosecutors say they are taking crimes against animals more seriously than ever. The Los Angeles Police Department has devoted five officers and detectives to a task force dedicated to investigating animal abuse and neglect. The county district attorney's office recently began training a select group of prosecutors to handle animal-related cases and is seeking tougher sentences for repeat offenders.
Los Angeles has become a national model for its stepped-up enforcement of animal cruelty laws, animal welfare experts said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cruelty8-2009feb08,0,7249180.story
Poor Nelia. :( I'm glad her story had a happy ending, at least. And hooray for my hometown!
Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
Officers Ramon Muniz and Kim Lormans of the Los Angeles Police Department Animal Cruelty Task Force walk through the North Central Animal Shelter dog kennels looking for animals that might have been fighting or abused.
Email Picture
People involved in dogfighting, cockfighting and other abuse are targeted by groups from the LAPD and district attorney. The number of criminal cases filed has jumped.
By Jack Leonard
February 8, 2009
Furious that his girlfriend had broken up with him and stopped taking his calls, Steven Butcher decided to take his anger out on the couple's small puppy.
"Every time you . . . don't pick up the phone, I am beating the dog," Butcher said in an angry voice-mail message he left for his ex-girlfriend. In a later message, as the dog yelped and cried in the background, he said: "You got some more of the dog getting beat." When police officers arrived at Butcher's Reseda home, they found Nelia, the pit bull puppy, shivering in a sink with cold water running over her. The animal's jaw had been broken, her eye sockets had been fractured and several of her ribs had been cracked.
Butcher, 23, was charged and convicted last year of animal cruelty -- one of a growing number of serious animal abuse cases in Los Angeles, where police and prosecutors say they are taking crimes against animals more seriously than ever. The Los Angeles Police Department has devoted five officers and detectives to a task force dedicated to investigating animal abuse and neglect. The county district attorney's office recently began training a select group of prosecutors to handle animal-related cases and is seeking tougher sentences for repeat offenders.
Los Angeles has become a national model for its stepped-up enforcement of animal cruelty laws, animal welfare experts said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cruelty8-2009feb08,0,7249180.story
Poor Nelia. :( I'm glad her story had a happy ending, at least. And hooray for my hometown!