Ohio: Michelle Murray, 25, ordered to spend the night in the woods after abandoning 35 kittens to die

OHIO -- An Ohio woman will spend a night in the woods without water, food or entertainment as part of her punishment for abandoning 35 kittens.

Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti handed down the sentence on Nov. 17 to Michelle M. Murray, 25.

On Sept. 19, park rangers found the kittens abandoned in two parks in Mentor, Ohio. Many of the kittens had upper respiratory infections and nine later died. They were traced back to Murray because they were wearing identification collars.

"How would you like to be dumped off at a metro park late at night, spend the night listening to the coyotes ... , listening to the raccoons around you in the dark night, and sit out there in the cold not knowing where you're going to get your next meal, not knowing when you are going to be rescued?" Cicconetti asked the defendant.

Murray, a mother of three children and two stepchildren, said the kittens were left on her doorstep by a stranger and the local Humane Society refused to help. The Humane Society disputes that claim.

Someone dumped THIRTY-FIVE KITTENS ON HER DOORSTEP? BULL!

Cicconetti gave Murray a choice between 90 days in jail for domestic animal abandonment or 14 days in jail, 15 days under house arrest, a $3,200 donation to the Humane Society a $500 donation to the park rangers who found the kittens and one night alone in the woods.

Murray chose the latter. She will report to the local jail today, where a park ranger will take her to a remote location. She will be picked up again on Thanksgiving morning.

Originally, Cicconetti said Murray was to have no food, reading material or entertainment devices and was to have only the clothes she wore -- as many as she wanted -- to keep her warm.

Due to plunging temperatures, however, the judge said he may amend his orders and allow her to make a fire.

History of Crime-Appropriate Sentences

This isn't Cicconetti's first unusual sentence:

 He has ordered a man who hollered "pigs" to police officers to stand on a street corner next to a 350-pound pig with a sign that read, "This is not a police officer."

 After an 18-year-old man stole some porn from an adult bookstore, the judge ordered him to sit outside the shop in a chair, wearing a blindfold, and holding a sign saying "See No Evil" so that passing traffic could see him.

 Cicconetti punished a group of high school students who vandalized school buses by making them throw a picnic for a group of grade-school students whose outing was canceled because of the stunt.

 A nanny accused of hitting a little boy with a belt was given a folder of articles on the consequences of child abuse, and compelled to read them all, and then discuss them in the courtroom in front of the judge and the victim's mother, as spectators looked on. Afterward, the mother agreed to no jail time for the nanny.

Effectiveness of Creative Sentencing

Cicconetti said he can remember just two people who have been sentenced to alternative punishments and reoffended.

One of them was a man who ran from the police and was offered a reduced jail sentence if he agreed to train for a five-mile race. The man stayed in shape, and a few months later, he grabbed a woman's purse and ran with it.

Cicconetti said he began offering creative sentencing when he was getting lots of cases of people speeding in school zones. Eventually he got sick of it, and thought why not force these people to confront the danger they are creating?

He offered violators a choice: Have their license suspended for 90 days, or have it suspended for a shorter period and spend one day working as a crossing guard. He said those violators who spent a day shepherding schools kids across the street never appeared in his courtroom for speeding again, even if they previously had multiple offenses.

Cicconetti eventually expanded his creative sentencing to other crimes, but stressed he offers them rarely and never as punishment for a violent offense.

(ABC News - Nov. 23, 2005)

Wafa Floreish, 34, charged with animal cruelty in Florida

FLORIDA -- Wafa Floreish is an example of a career criminal. She was arrested in October 2005 for animal cruelty and just continues to break the law. I couldn't find anything about the animal cruelty case. If you do, please post below.

Name: Wafa Floreish
DOB: 11-25-1970

AKA
Wafa Awadallah
Wafa Florish
Wafa Elareish
Wafa Elqreish
Wafa El-Qreish
Wafa Mohammed Elqreish

On April 20, 2003 she was first arrested for "knowingly" driving without a license or registration.

On October 20, 2005, she was arrested for animal cruelty. Her bond was $500. Her name is listed as Wafa Floreish.

828.12 Cruelty to animals.—
(1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

On April 4, 2012, she was arrested for violating probation by being in possession of drug paraphernalia. Her name is listed as Wafa Mohammed El-Qreish.

On October 10, 2012, she was arrested and charged with probation violation (VOP POSS DRUG PARA REMANDED). Her name is listed as Wafa M. Elqreish.

On September 29, 2014, she was charged with petty larceny 2nd degree, 2nd offense (shoplifting). Her cash bond was listed as $1,500. Her booking information lists her name as Wafa El-Qreish.

On october 18, 2014 she was arrested again and charged with petty larceny 2nd degree, 2nd offense (shoplifting). Now she is going by the name Wafa Mohammed Elqreish.

(Bailbondcity.com - Oct 20, 2005)

Pennsylvania: Roberta Rose, 44, charged with animal cruelty

Full Name: Roberta Rose
Gender: Female
Arrest Age: 44
Arrest Date: 10/13/2005
Arrest Time: 11:12 AM
Arresting Location: Washington County, Pennsylvania
Charge
#1 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: ABUSE ANIMALS

Pennsylvania: Michael Hornyak, 43, charged with animal cruelty

Full Name: Michael Joseph Hornyak
Alias: Mike Hornyak, Michael J Hornyak
Gender: Male
Birthdate: 12/04/1961
Height: 5'09"
Weight: 160 lbs
Eye Color: BLUE
Arrest Age:43
Arrest Date: 10/10/2005
Arresting Agency: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Total Bond: $4640
Charges
#1 FAIL TO USE SAFETY BELT SYSTEM 10
BOND: $928

#2 DRIV WHILE OPER PRIV SUSP OR REVOKED
BOND: $928

#3 DR W/O A LIC
BOND: $928

#4 EXCEED SPEED LIMIT BY 16-25 MPH
BOND: $928

#5 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: ABUSE ANIMALS
BOND: $928

Animal Control Officer suspended after his boss releases aggressive dog

GEORGIA -- Upson County's Animal Control Officer has been suspended by county commissioners over an incident that occurred July 23.

Smart Web has been with the county for eight years, and this is his first formal reprimand.

Web was suspended for five days for allegedly not following procedure in declaring a pit bulldog dangerous after it bit an 8-year-old child in the face on Rualmaine Road.

 According to the Upson County Sheriff's report, the attack was unprovoked, and the young girl required stitches.

According to Web, the grievance is because the dog had been released to the owner.

Web said he did not release the dog, but former County Manager Mark Byrant did.

"I spoke with Mark (Bryant) and he told me that the owner was taking the dog to Pike County and it wasn't our problem anymore," Web said.

"That dog is dangerous. Our problem shouldn't have been given to another county."

The dog was picked up the day of the attack and impounded.

The pit bulldog is owned by a husband and wife who do not live together. She lives in Upson County and he lives in Pike County.

"I told the wife I was going to declare the dog dangerous if she was going to pick it up," Web said.
"I told her that because if she wasn't going to pick the dog up there is no reason for me to declare it dangerous," he said.

If the dog is not picked up by the owner in 10 days, the dog is put down, according to Webb.

During this time Webb was still attending Middle Ga. Police Academy at the county's expense.

"I was at the school the county sent me to," he said.

"I left orders for the dog not to be released. The dog would have been put down Aug. 3, if the owner didn't want to pick the dog up.

"I notified the owner that the dog would be declared dangerous," Web said, "After hearing this, he wanted to pick his dog up."

The Pike County man paid the animal control office via money order Aug. 3, according to their receipt book. The man picked the dog up Aug. 15.

"I didn't know the dog was gone," Web said. "I was still going through normal procedure in declaring the dog dangerous."

Web has since graduated, with honors, receiving a certificate from the basic law enforcement training course.

He said he asked Bryant about the situation.

"When I found out, I asked Mark about it. That's when he told me it wasn't our problem anymore.

"When your boss tells you that it's out of your hands, it's out of your hands. I can't go over his head."

Web said the mistake was not his.

"This is a dangerous dog," he said.

"It was a family dog that attacked without being provoked. I followed procedure, and now I'm being punished because my boss made the decision, not me," Web said.

"This is an unjust situation."

County Commission Chairman Glenn Collins had no comment.

Web said he will appeal this decision at the next meeting of the Upson County Commissioners.

(Thomaston Times - Oct 5, 2005)

Illinois: Sean Hand, 40, pleads not guilty to shooting his neighbor's cat

ILLINOIS -- A Gurnee, Ill., man pleaded not guilty to wounding a neighbor's cat by shooting it twice with a .22-caliber rifle.

Sean Hand, 40, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of animal abuse, animal torture and criminal damage to property and faces a Nov. 28 trial in Lake County, Ill., Circuit Court.

Police told the Chicago Tribune they did not know what prompted the July shootings that left the black tabby with a bullet in the right leg and a broken bone and its owner with a $4,000 veterinary bill.

(UPI - Oct 5, 2005)

Brazil: Boy, 2, mauled to death by his grandparents' pit bull

BRAZIL -- A pit bull killed a 2-year-old boy, attacking the child as he was playing in the backyard of his grandmother’s house in southern Brazil, local media reported Saturday.

Guilherme Vieira was with his 6-year-old brother when the grandmother’s dog suddenly attacked them Thursday night in Ponta Grossa, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Sao Paulo, the Folha Online news service reported.

The boy suffered severe wounds to his neck and head, and died shortly after being admitted to a hospital, firefighters said. His brother escaped unharmed after the grandmother called authorities.

The family said the dog, which was unleashed at the time of the incident, had always been around the children without problems, but neighbors told Folha that it had attacked other people before.

Police was investigating the case, and could charge the grandparents with involuntary manslaughter.

(Latin American Herald Tribune - Oct 2, 2005)