Animal cruelty penalties don’t reflect the crimes
GIVEN our justice system’s failings in dealing with human victims it’s not surprising that it fails to deliver justice for abused animals.
Whether the animal brutalised is a pet, livestock or wildlife the result is the same; a slap on the wrist if the offender is unlucky enough to be prosecuted in the first place.
There is a deep disconnect between the public’s disgust with cases of sadistic animal cruelty and the punishment meted out by the judiciary.
And, barely a week goes by when we don’t hear about some sickening case of animals being deliberately injured or killed for the amusement of depraved idiots.
In recent days we’ve heard about cases from Victoria to West Australia that have shocked the country.
Last week Western Australia police refused to release footage of the torture and killing of kangaroos that was described as deeply disturbing.
The videos show two incidents involving a number of men abusing kangaroos which are repeatedly punched with knuckledusters, kicked, stabbed and burnt while the cowardly cretins responsible laugh.
In a third incident a man places a live chicken on a fire fueled by accelerant.
Four men aged between 22 and 28 have been charged but they remain in the community after bein granted bail on Friday.
The accused, Dylan Leslie Griffin, Luke Dempster, Ricky Swan and Ben Jaydon Malpuss must abide by strict bail conditions including not associating with each other or members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang.
The images of the three incidents are so disturbing that police declined to release the video. “I’ve seen the videos and honestly, in my 17 years of policing, it’s one of the most disturbing things I have seen, hands down,” Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Giuffre said. “It’s graphic, it’s disturbing, it’s cowardly.”
The police also noted in court that the accused had black eyes which is suspected to be courtesy of none-toopleased members of a motorcycle gang. It seems even lawless bikies have little tolerance for those suspected of animal torture.
On the weekend footage emerged of young people on a motorcycle and quad bike chasing and swerving towards emus in Newborough in country Victoria.
It comes a week after another sickening video from country Victoria that showed a mob of emus being deliberately mowed down while the driver filming the carnage laughed uncontrollably and yelled: “One, two, three…This is (expletive) great. I’ve got that one too … and that one.”
Jacob MacDonald has been charged with multiple animal cruelty offences and is expected to appear in court in November.
The 20-year-old from Cowangie says he regrets the incident that he had filmed just for his friends’ amusement and is upset that one of his mates has “ratted on him”.
“Yeah, someone’s obviously not as good of a mate as I thought,” MacDonald said in a TV interview.
“It was a mistake, it was a silly idea. It’s not funny anymore, it was at the time.”
Killing frightened birds running for their lives probably stopped being fun the moment he realised that there may be some grave consequences for his cruelty.
The reality is that neither of these cases would be before the courts if the alleged offenders hadn’t filmed themselves abusing animals.
Two of the youngsters involved in the La Trobe incident also appear to be filming themselves, holding go-pro-style cameras as they chase frightened emus.
Barree Egan-Laylor, who filmed the riders tormenting emus, claims it’s a regular occurrence that has resulted in multiple deaths.
“So far, five emus have been found on the roads because these people chase them out of the paddock,” Egan-Laylor posted. “One was killed, and two seriously injured … there should be 12, sadly now we only see six.”
In Victoria the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences is 24 months in prison and hefty fines of more than $70,000 but it is rare for anyone to be sent to jail let alone for anything approaching two years.
Last week a New Zealander who killed more than 400 wedge-tailed eagles over an 18 month period in Gippsland was sentenced to a pitifully lenient 14 days in jail and fined $2500.
Murray James Silvester will serve less than an hour of jail and pay around $6 for each protected eagle he killed.
He had told authorities he had killed up to 420 eagles and other protected species including a kookaburra and another raptor were also found dead on the Tubbut farm where he worked.
Silvester’s sentence may be deemed manifestly inadequate but at least he will see the inside of a jail cell, which is more than can be said for Tasmanian Joshua Leigh Jeffrey who in June was sentenced to 49 hours of community service and a paltry $82 fine for using a stick to beat to death six fairy penguins.
You can get parking fines that are higher than what Jeffrey received for an aggravated cruelty conviction, a crime that carries a five year maximum in Tasmania.
It is rare for animal cruelty cases to be prosecuted, it is important that when they are the courts hand out sentences that are in line with community expectations and reflect the seriousness of the crime. *Limited to one redemption per eligible member per week. Offer open 9.00am on 6 August, 2018 and ends 11.59pm on 4 November, 2018 or until stocks last. New discount codes available every Monday during the offer period. Australian residents only. Minimum spend of $100 per single transaction. The minimum spend amount excludes any vouchers or offers, Woolworths Flowers, delivery charges and Delivery Saver items, tobacco/smoking products, gift cards, egift cards, Woolworths Mobile, mobile phones and mobile recharge products, travel cards and tickets. Bag fees and crate service fees apply for Pickup and Delivery orders. Delivery to Australian residential addresses only. Discount not redeemable for cash and not transferable. Discount code valid for orders placed between 6 August, 2018 and 11:59 AEDT 25 November, 2018. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Discount code is valid for a single use only during the promotion period. Orders may be cancelled by Woolworths without notice to you if the above terms and conditions are not adhered to. Check online for available Pick up times and order cut off dates. See www.woolworths. com.au for full terms and conditions applicable to shopping at Woolworths Online.