Another animal cruelty horror story

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime...d-9189730.html

Jailed for just 14 weeks and banned from keeping animals for life and was told she cannot apply to have this ban reviewed for five years.

I've no idea what maximum sentences for animal cruelty are and apparently this woman has a long history of mental illness.

But this cat must have suffered intense pain and IMHO there should be NO review on a ban from keeping animals for this woman. She is obviously unfit to own animals.

Oh, no. Poor kitten. It's like you said... this woman has a long history of mental illness. She probably shouldn't have been allowed to have pets to begin with. What she did clearly isn't rational and she wasn't in her right mind when she did it.

What person with normal and cognitive thought would microwave a KITTEN for doing something as natural as that? I don't think anybody would. Still, so very sad.

Gosh to look at that poor kitten makes me sad. We had a tuxedo cat like that who died in a horrendous way (got trapped in a door of a newly built house for days) and it brings back the terrible memories.

She isn't fit to own animals, but perhaps in some years if her mind stabilizes and she is cleared of her problems... it might be okay? I'm not sure.

I just hate denying people the right to own pets because they are so awesome, but perhaps you are right. It's like telling people they can't have kids, it's taking away one of their fundamental rights.

YES some (many) people deserve it, of course... but it just bothers me to take these rights away forever.

Well I don't see the right to own animals as being a 'fundamental right'. In fact there are (certainly in the UK) lots of instances where you are just not ALLOWED to own an animal in your home - nowt to do with the suitability of you as an owner or not.

Where my son lives no dogs are allowed you even have to seek permission to own a cat. Lots of old folks homes and sheltered housing don't allow pets either. And quite a few mobile home parks. And not just where old people live either. University halls accommodation. Nursing accommodation. And a hell of a lot of private RENTED accommodation too.

If the woman was deemed to be that seriously mentally unfit she would probably not even have been brought to Court for it and deemed not to be responsible and not jailed. Not guilty by reason of insanity!

I am sure there are many mentally challenged people who make good pet owners and for whom a pet is a wonderful addition to their life. But a goldfish sounds like just the right sort of pet for the woman in this case.

*not quite sure what 'fundamental rights' are anyway?

I know what Human Rights are (roughly) but a lot of people get confused over those!

So ... of course ... I am off to look it up lol!

I guess Fundamental (meaning BASIC) is a sort of interchangeable word for Human Rights. Things no one should be stopped from doing regardless of their status etc.

However, even regarding the right to reproduce and have children I think in some extreme cases that can be taken away.

And I'm sure that even if there is a list of basic human fundamental things everyone should be entitled to - it will not be the case that they are depending on what country they live in.

Listen to me - debating with myself now lol!

You're right Tang. I guess I just have trouble with denying someone who isn't even fully mentally functioning (but could be someday with the right help) pets for the rest of their lives. In a supervised situation, pets can actually help these people... believe me, I know personally.

I'm American so excuse my blathering about "fundamental rights" and whatnot. They have drilled that stuff into our heads!

Myra her own legal representative said she did know what she was doing just lost her temper and acted out of character.

I'm on the tablet now so can't post a link to it but if you Google the case you will find the article.

People who do that sort of thing whether mentally ill or not have, as far as I'm concerned forfeited any rights as regards animal ownership. They shouldn't be allowed to go anywhere near a pet of any description. For me, several years in jail (at least 2) with no remission is appropriate - in the case of mental illness they should be incarcercerated until such a time as they are deemed to be no longer a threat to animals or anyone/anything else. After all it is well recorded that many serial killers and people of that ilk e.g. Moors murderer Ian Brady, started their evil careers by torturing and killing harmless animals. I am a relatively unsophisticated rural type and know nothing about Fundamental Rights etc., and so feel unable to add comment on that subject. However I do know right from wrong and what this person did is about as wrong as it gets!!! I don't usually comment on the more serious subjects on this forum but couldn't help adding to this one.

It goes without saying that she shouldn't own animals for a very long time... if not ever again. What she did was mean and VERY wrong, of course. It makes sense to not let her have animals, but I'm usually for a second chance.

There will not come a time when cruelty laws for animals is actually decent. A few years ago I heard that there was only ONE person in my entire state serving federal time in jail for animal cruelty.

There are tons of dog fighters here and other people who are very cruel - and are caught... but the laws are just very lax when it comes to dogs because frankly, nobody cares about them. I mean WE (dog lovers) care, but nobody else does.

I'm no longer surprised to see stuff like this where the punishment is just garbage compared to the level of cruelty that was seen on the animals.