Man gets 2 years in prison for killing cat

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

A Los Angeles man who killed his girlfriend's cat, telling her to "follow the blood trail to find Tweety," has been sentenced to two years in prison.

More here.

When I was a teenager, I would occasionally babysit for a thirtysomething couple I knew from the Southern Baptist church I attended. They were fairly nice people, well respected, good Christians. That's why I was utterly shocked the day that the husband tried to run down some stray cats on his street while he was taking me home. "Yeah, they're from a vacant house, a real nuisance," he said, explaining his actions while he drove on without hitting any of his targets.

I hadn't even become a cat person yet and I was totally horrified.

I mean, sure, stray cats are an enormous problem, but playing target practice with them as though we were in Death Race 2000 can be described only as cruel and inhumane. That's why we have animal control agencies. What the fuck was up with this "good Christian" man? Sick bastard. I don't think I worked for them too many times after that. I don't know what became of the strays he wanted to squash.

Anyway, while I find the notion of prison to be so utterly problematic that I think I can reasonably disqualify myself from jury duty for pretty much any criminal trial, I really like the message this sentence in Los Angeles sends out: wantonly killing somebody's pet is such an harsh and immoral act that society believes there ought to be severe consequences for doing so.

Really, I think mandating a couple of years of community service in an animal shelter or as a PETA activist would have been a better punishment, but this is very much a step in the right direction.

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