Sentence Too Lenient for Woman Who Starved Dog
Posted on 2007 under Animal Advocacy, Crimes Against Canines, Dog(s) Starved, Malnourished, Just Sad :(, News & Updates |31 Aug
The other day I did a story on Maryanne Adams, of Greenwood Lake, NY who starved her dog, Princess, to death in February. Charged only with ‘failing to provide sustenance,’ a misdemeanor, she pleaded guilty. Her sentence? 100 hours of community service, $1000 fine and $300 in restitution to the Warwick Valley Humane Society.
I was, and am, upset and angry about the sentencing. The Justice said the sentence was due to her children. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it and it seems I am not the only one. I came across this story and thought it was worth sharing because it practically mirrored my feelings.
Dog ruling is too lenient
When it comes to flawed reasoning by somebody in a black robe, the worst example in a long time came in Warwick this week where a town justice tempered the sentence of a dog killer because of what he said was concern for the woman’s children.
You don’t have to be an animal rights activist to be outraged by the ruling. You don’t even have to be interested in the gruesome details of how the woman’s dog suffered and eventually starved to death.
The woman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to provide sustenance to her St. Bernard-collie mix, an 80-pound dog when adopted last summer. When investigators found the dog motionless in the backyard, her eyes were matted shut, and she had no food in her digestive tract. A veterinarian said she likely took months to die.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence that sounds reasonable, even lenient, although within the law, and wanted it applied in a way that was more than fair. They suggested that the woman serve a 60-day sentence spread out over 30 weekends. People who work two jobs or split shifts face equal child-care challenges all the time.
The justice did not see it that way and changed the sentence to 100 hours of community service, a $1,000 fine and $300 in restitution to the Warwick Valley Humane Society. He did that, he said, because she has children.
That is a terrible precedent, one that is sure to be requested elsewhere by any admitted criminal who wants to avoid appropriate punishment. Punishment is supposed to fit the crime and, in this case, there was no reason it could not.
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by roseanna, on September 1 2007 @ 12:27 pm
I so agree with you and the article that the so-called punishment for starving the dog is a joke. Care for her children…how can she possibly care for her children when she can’t care for a dog. Is it “caring for your children” to allow them to know and watch a member of their own family be starved to death…to lay in agony, dying for months…in your own yard….?” I still find it hard to believe that when these things happen none of the children tell anyone at school. So that means that the children are just as numb or ignorant…or afraid for their own lives. If that is what they call caring for children, then we have a major problem with our justice system. I thought we were long past the idea that …”it is just a dog”. I actually looked up the info on this judge in case anyone wants to call and speak up loud and clear about how ridiculous this whole situation appears. This judge should be removed from the bench. Bill O’Reilly would be the person to pass this info on to..if he would take up the issue…his main interest is children, but this involves children too.
Justice Daniel Coleman (845) 986-1128
sits Tuesday, 7pm, town hall
Town of Warwidk
(845) 986-1124
Supervisor, Michael Sweeton (845) 986-1120 ext. 240
Councilpersons
Mickey Shuback (845) 651 -4074
Leonard DeBuck (845)258-4139
Floyd DeAngelo (845) 477-2472
James Gerstner (845) 986-5876
by roseanna, on September 1 2007 @ 12:39 pm
FYI
I sent all this info in to the Bill O’Reilly website…and let him know where it came from……let’s hope he picks up on it …because if he does…this Judge will be off the bench in the not too distant future. He can get it done.
Ro
by Admin, on September 1 2007 @ 2:02 pm
Thank you so much, Rosanna, for caring enough to take the time to get the information and pass it along. Sentences like this just send out the message that it’s ok for people to commit these kinds of atrocities and it’s not ok!! People who do this are less than human and people who let them get away with it just condone this kind of cruelty!
by Andie, on October 16 2007 @ 11:06 am
This is precisely how children who grow up to be human monsters are created. Children learn that which they see. To see an animal starve to death produces in children the attitude that animals are of little or no importance. I won’t be surprised to find that these kids wind up with some serious criminal records.