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Abondoned dog by the road outside the instructors home.

Humane society looks to help, teach humans

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O'Brien, B.J. 2002. Humane society looks to help, teach humans. The Monitor, McAllen, Tx (April 18). Http://www.themonitor.com/NewsPub/News/Stories/2002/04/18/10191840992.shtml (April 18, 2002).

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Link back to where ever you came from.

-- Another abandoned dog --

Thursday, April 18, 2002.

Humane society looks to help, teach humans

By Brandice J. O'Brien

The Monitor

McALLEN -- Too often when an animal is physically abused or tormented by twisted fun-seekers, others are too quick to dismiss the cruelty with a remark like, "It's just an animal."

Tell that to the near 1,200 people who adopted an animal from the Humane Society Upper Valley shelter in Edinburg, last year. Or to the members of 60 million households in the United States who care for one or more pets, according to www.inhumane.org. Those people most likely disagree and consider their animal a member of the family.

-- Another abandoned dog --

Despite an array of opinions, evidence supports one theory that at least some animal abusers graduate to become human abusers, murderers and violent criminals, according to www.inhumane.org. Infamous criminals like mass-murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, kidnapper and murderer Richard Allen Davis and killer Brenda Spencer, who fired 40 shots into a crowd, killing two children and wounding nine, all began by torturing animals. And many abusers start hurting animals as children or teen-agers.Dahmer as a child decapitated a dog and posted its head on a stick, while Davis doused cats with gasoline and set them on fire. Spencer, as a little girl, set fire to the tails of numerous neighbors' cats and dogs. After torturing animals during their childhoods, these notorious felons grew up and attacked human prey.

"They start with animals and escalate up to humans," said Cherie Faires, executive director of the humane society in Edinburg. "It gives them power, glory... they get satisfaction from it."

Animal lover and local humane society volunteer Louise Abreu agrees. "They think they're better than animals. They punish someone who can't fight back. It's power and to vent frustration," Abreu said. "(Their) victim can't speak out. (The abusers) get away with it."

-- Another abandoned dog --

Healthier minds, on the other hand, quickly come to loathe cruelty to animals. "I killed a snake as a girl and it still haunts me," Abreu said. "The first time you think you're not better than any living creature, it's hard to kill them."

For many attackers, it's a psychological attitude that allows them to commit the crime. "They have no empathy, it's sociopath behavior É sense of entitlement. Sociopath and conduct disorder have absolutely minimal feelings and are usually motivated by money. Emotional attachments don't work," said psychologist Lynette Heslet of McAllen. "Other times we've seen animal abuse is under the influence of drugs. They're less restrained.

"Those are two primary psychological problems... sociopath or conduct disorder and impulse control disorder. Impulse control disorder individuals often act without thinking."

Studies by the Humane Society United States show that 20 percent of intentional abuse is committed by teen-agers. Of those, 95 percent were males. "After looking at more than 1,000 reported cases of animal cruelty in the year 2001, we see that the presence of teen offenders is alive and well," said Virginia M. Prevas, manager of the HSUS First Strike Campaign.

-- Another abandoned dog --

Part of the reason animal abuse may be so prevalent is because the laws aren't strict enough. Of the 50 U.S. states, 27 classify animal cruelty as a misdemeanor. And up until September 2001, Texas was included in that category.

Animal cruelty is now as a felony and the punishment ranges from confinement in the penitentiary in Huntsville and a possible fine of no more than $10,000 to confinement for life or a term of five to 99 years in prison and an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.

"(It's a) very violent offense to abuse an animal," said Pharr Municipal Court Judge Dario Martinez. "(To) take a life is atrocious." In Martinez's 13 years on the bench, he's never tried a case of animal cruelty, but instances do arise in the Valley. In 1997, under the misdemeanor statute then in force, three men were convicted of stoning a dog to death in Las Palmas, outside of Harlingen.

-- Two abandoned pups--