"Man jailed for beheading girlfriend's kitten"

[ND66]

I just wish that the children abuser's punishment was comparable to the animal abuser’s punishment… .

EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois (AP) -- A man who admitted in court to tearing off the head of a kitten after a fight with his girlfriend has been sentenced to two years in prison.

When it comes to animal abuse cases, "we don't get prison sentences all the time, so it's always good when we do," Stephanee Smith, a spokeswoman for the Madison County state's attorney's office, said Tuesday of the case against Jacob Thornton.

Thornton, 21, was to have had a preliminary hearing last Thursday on the felony animal torture charge but instead pleaded guilty, Smith said.

A judge ordered Thornton's sentence to run concurrently to a prison term related to a parole violation on a 2005 aggravated battery conviction.

Authorities say that after a July 28 dispute between Thornton and his live-in girlfriend, the 30-year-old woman left the home before returning to find her kitten's head and detached body in the front yard.

[Dr Mordrid]

Yeah...a sicko.

[TransformX]

Pet abuse isn't as far from human abuse as some people like to think..

[lecter]

Aggravated battery, sadism...only a matter of time before someone like this "progresses" to wringing the necks of people.

[Jessterw]

Haven't read more about this, but he's definitely a special kind of sick if he physically tore the kitten's head off (opposed to using a tool to do so or cutting it off).

Was going to say this is the sort of person who would batter a child, but looks like I wasn't the only one thinking it.

[Fluff]

I think it is sick. But is doing this to a kitten any worse than doing it to something less cute like a chicken?

From my point of view it is worse because the kitten never got the chance to experience becoming a cat regardless of cuteness.

[Gurm]

Oh c'mon. Sure he was sick, but who here hasn't kicked the damn cat? Are you saying that the same sort of people who kick the cat (arguably "abuse") would kick their kids? What if we/they HATE cats?

[Jessterw]

Big difference between kicking a cat and tearing its head off. But yes, abusing an animal may be an outlet for a person who has abusive tendencies but is unable or prohibited from expressing those tendencies otherwise. People who abuse animals can also become abusive to other people as well, especially children.

Doesn't mean that if you kick a cat on occasion, you'll then go on to or have already abused another person. I mean, I've thrown a cat across the room for jumping on me in the middle of the night.

[lecter]

I think it is sick. But is doing this to a kitten any worse than doing it to something less cute like a chicken?

I think the difference lies in the fact that we breed chickens and cows in large numbers for purposes of consumption...these animals wouldn't be alive in the first place if they weren't mass-bred, so I figure it's no different to growing corn. Of course, people working in abatoirs are not exactly the gentlest of creatures either...but the method is nevertheless different compared to violently & angrily killing a creature.

And come on Gurm, by your rationale punching someone and trying to break their neck would be the same type of offence...most penal codes do disagree with that.

[KvHagedorn]

Oh c'mon. Sure he was sick, but who here hasn't kicked the damn cat? Are you saying that the same sort of people who kick the cat (arguably "abuse") would kick their kids? What if we/they HATE cats?

So hatred of a class of beings justifies murderous cruelty?

You're off your rocker again.. by your logic it would be OK for osama to rip your head off because he hates Jews.

[Gurm]

So hatred of a class of beings justifies murderous cruelty?

You're off your rocker again.. by your logic it would be OK for osama to rip your head off because he hates Jews.

No, you missed the point. If the argument is that anyone that abuses cats will go on to abuse kids... but if an overwhelming preponderance of guys have kicked cats (and they have, TRUST me on this one), then by the original logic most men will go on to abuse their kids.

If X then Y is seldom good logic.

[cjolley]

No, you missed the point. If the argument is that anyone that abuses cats will go on to abuse kids... but if an overwhelming preponderance of guys have kicked cats (and they have, TRUST me on this one), then by the original logic most men will go on to abuse their kids.

If X then Y is seldom good logic.

Cruelty to animals is one of, if not THE best, predictors of future violence to people in children.
That fact is not arrived at by logic, but by statistics and experience.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=animal%20cruelty%20predictor%20violence%20statistics&hl=en&lr=&oi=scholart

http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=188677

http://www.columbustelegram.com/articles/2003/10/21/news/news3.txt

http://www.animaltherapy.net/DomesticViolence.html

http://www.cahs-pets.org/resources/animal_and_human_violence.htm

[az]

Oh c'mon. Sure he was sick, but who here hasn't kicked the damn cat?

Me. Nor a dog, bunny, horse, cow... and humans only on very very rare occasions.

[lowlifecat]

Doc, where that shocked emot you posted earlier?

I've learned a little from watching Animal Cops and Animal Precint on Animal Planet. In some cities and states (NYC example) Humane Officers are actually Cops with the full authority of Police Officers. They'll even go under cover to track down animal abusers. Facinating stuff.

The punishment in these cases while not on par with violence against humans, can be quite severe.

[Nowhere]

Oh c'mon. Sure he was sick, but who here hasn't kicked the damn cat?...

Me too...