Stop Giving Animal Abusers Free Legal Passes

Target: Erica A. Marthage, Bennington County State’s Attorney

Goal: Strengthen prosecutions and penalties for alleged animal abusers.

Two disturbing incidents in a Vermont town reaffirm the urgent need for not only stronger animal cruelty laws, but much stronger enforcement. In the first incident, a woman beat her dog severely: an action caught on video. Although she was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and could have been handed down a five-year sentence, instead she pled guilty to a lesser charge carrying a three-month maximum term in jail. But the sentence was suspended, meaning Chantel Moore will not serve a day in jail.

Mere weeks later, another woman – Roxann Coleman – faced charges that she stabbed a Labrador Retriever in the face. The dog’s injury required stitching near his eye. Although Coleman admitted to the stabbing and claimed the dog had been trying to attack her, she initially pled not guilty. But the woman, who possesses a long criminal record, changed her plea to guilty. And once again, prosecutors handed an admitted animal abuser a suspended sentence with no jail time. It is not even clear if the suspect will be required to surrender another dog under her care.

Sign the petition below to demand this town’s prosecutors start treating a gateway crime with the gravity it merits.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear State’s Attorney Marthage,

Up to 75 percent of domestic abusers have a history of animal cruelty. An overwhelming 95 percent of serial killers report abusing animals. Studies have uncovered a 50 percent correlation between animal abuse and homicide, and a 65 percent overall correlation between animal abuse and all types of violent crime.

How has the Bennington prosecutor’s office dealt with animal cruelty recently? Chantel Moore, who pled guilty to beating her dog, received a suspended sentence. Roxann Coleman, a woman with a long criminal record that most recently includes stabbing a dog in the face, received a suspended sentence. This is a pattern, and this is a major problem.

Your website states that your office works “to uphold the public’s trust in the pursuit of justice and the enforcement of the law.” The enforcement is lacking at best. And if the community cannot rely on its best legal minds to defend its most vulnerable living beings, then where is the trust?

Take a hard look at your approach to animal cruelty and change course before another innocent – animal or human – pays the price.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Vlad Chetan