Animal Abuse - When is it Going to Be Taken Seriously?

You've probably heard the names Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy; all names of notorious killers and what do they all have in common? They started out as animal abusers. What about the names; Kip Kinkle and Luke Woodham or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold? Not quite so well known except in some circles and in the minds and memories of their victims' families. These two pairs of names belong to teenage boys who went on killing sprees, the second pair are the infamous Columbine High School killers. What do they all have in common? They all tortured and killed animals, sometimes bragging to their friends. Now what about the names; Dasha Lombard, James Manzanares, and Nicholas Stogdon? Probably not unless you live in Alamogordo, MN and either know them or were paying attention to the news in late spring in this year, 2007. They are three 'children,' aged 15, 14 and 13, at the time, who found a wandering puppy and decided to have some fun. They taped the dog's muzzle shut with packing tape, stabbed her with a knife and screwdriver and proceeded to drop a 40 lb concrete block on her. When questioned about it, the response was, 'It was just a f@*! dog!" These 'children' were completely unaffected by the torture they inflicted on this innocent and defenseless animal.

And this was not the first brush with the law for any of them. These three teens are not new to their antisocial behavior. Lombard was charged with having a deadly weapon on school property, charged with criminal damage to property when she allegedly spray-painted an elementary school playground, previous charges include shoplifting and resisting, evading and obstructing an officer as well as numerous incidents of trouble at school, usually involving verbally abusing teachers. Manzanares' priors include shoplifting (including one incident where he was with co-defendant Stogdon), disorderly conduct, larceny, receiving stolen property and burglary. Stogdon was charged several times with shoplifting; twice for battery on a household member; for running away; and for burglary.