Five things to know about animal cruelty in Dallas County, Texas

TEXAS -- With the case of Bradley Glenn Boley in the news, this is what you should know about animal cruelty which occurs in Dallas County, Texas:

1. Animal cruelty is linked to other crimes.

Prosecutors say a correlation exists between people who abuse animals and those who commit other crimes, such as domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse. For example, about 68 percent of battered women reported that their abuser was violent toward their pets, according to the American Humane Association.

Gregory Fargnoli, 26, may have sexually assaulted his
girlfriend's dog with a broomstick
before beating and stabbing it to death

Jesse Tom, 29, Accused Of Killing Girlfriend’s
Dog, Placing It On Barbecue In Elk Grove

Ryan Gutierrez, 21, accused of killing
Chihuahua after argument with girlfriend

Shawn Robert Higgins charged with
choking girlfriend, fracturing her puppy's leg

“It’s a statement about how you perceive those who are powerless,” said Carmen White, who oversees the animal cruelty unit at the Dallas County district attorney’s office.

2. Dogs are the victim in about 90 percent of reported cases.

Most animal abuse and neglect cases in Dallas County involve dogs, prosecutors say. Meanwhile, cats are typically victims of torture.

Occasionally, the DA’s office receives a call about livestock, and once, it fielded an unusual report about catfish being skinned alive.

3. Animal cruelty cases rarely get the maximum punishment.

Animal cruelty cases come with a punishment range of probation to up to 10 years in prison. But prosecutors haven’t gotten the maximum punishment since the DA’s office created the animal cruelty unit in 2013.

In Massachusetts, when you kill a cat by
cooking it to death in a dryer, you get probation

The closest they came was last year, when a jury sentenced a Mesquite man, Robert Prichard, to 6-1/2 years in prison for hitting his pit bull with a shovel and throwing her into his pool so that she would drown.

Mesquite man found guilty of beating his pit bull 
with shovel, drowning it in backyard pool

4. Public opinion is split.

It’s rare to obtain a harsh punishment, White said, because the public has diverging attitudes about animals, often falling along generational lines. Some view animals as property; others see them as family. She said animal cruelty is perhaps the only crime where jurors question, “Is this really criminal?”

5. Neglect counts as a crime.

It’s not just abuse and torture that count as crimes, such as in the high-profile burning death of Justice the dog in 2012.

Leaving a pet in a hot car, keeping a pet outside without access to shelter in bad weather or failing to take an injured pet to the vet are all criminal acts, authorities say.

Justice was set on fire and died of his injuries

Investigator Steve Wilson said owners who can’t afford pet care can take advantage of low-cost clinics or surrender their pet to a shelter. He advised people to call 911 if they believe a pet is being mistreated.

(Dallas Morning News - Dec 2, 2015)