Finally! The justice system is actually punishing creeps like this one...

The justice system in the United States is finally cracking down on animal abusers. Wayne Brackett, age 22, was just sentenced to a four-year prison sentence in North Adams, Massachusetts. His crime? In June, Brackett - under the influence of drugs and alcohol - broke into a construction company and horribly murdered and mutilated five pet rabbits on the premises. As the Boston Herald noted:

Surveillance footage reportedly showed him ripping the ears off a rabbit, stabbing another one repeatedly, and stomping one baby bunny to death.

Now, this low-life will be spending four years in prison - plenty of time to reflect on his heinous crime. It's wonderful to see a thug who abuses animals finally being punished for such violence. This hasn't always happened. Twenty years ago - hell, ten years ago - a creep like this most likely would have gotten away with a slap on the wrist, maybe a little bit of community service.

Not any more. This prison sentence sends out a strong message: Animal abuse will not be tolerated. Brackett's case is especially disturbing. Peter Gollub, director of Law Enforcement for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told a local television station:

The rabbits in this case suffered horrific and repeated acts of cruelty. We wish to express our gratitude to the courts for recognizing the gravity of the crimes by imposing appropriate sentences.... Regrettably, the savagery repeatedly inflicted upon the helpless rabbits exceeds any brutality I’ve seen in quite a while. (Source)

Nine other rabbits are missing and presumed dead. Good thing this creep is going to do serious jail time. There have been many studies that show that human beings who carry out such senseless acts of violence against animals often commit violent acts against other human beings as well. Who knows? By punishing this creep now, maybe the life of a person might be saved. And apart from that, what he did to those rabbits was so brutal, so vile and disgusting, he deserves to spend time in prison. He'll also have to do 100 hours of community service. I'm praying this jerk comes across a really big and really tough inmate who loves animals and detests animal abusers.

Please Take 1 Minute Out of Your Day to Help These Abused Pigs

All it takes is one minute. One minute to help animals who need your help. Please visit this URL:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/500-pigs-starved-to-death--those-involved-need-to-be-prosecuted

I beg you to take a moment to sign this petition and let the authorities in Manitoba know that the horrifying abuse of thousands of pigs at a farm in Notre Dame de Lourdes, which resulted in the unspeakably awful deaths of well over 600, will not be tolerated. (See my Blog entry here on the subject.)

The very barn that became a ghastly pig torture chamber burned last Wednesday in a fire, not long after authorities raided it and found hundreds of dead pigs and countless others suffering. Luckily, the authorities saved 2000 of the beautiful creatures.

Our animal friends need our help right now. These are extraordinary creatures who all - each and every one - deserve to live much better lives than the awful existences they have lived up until this point.

Time to punish the offenders. And punish them hard.

Even though this case is an extreme form of animal abuse, we should not lose sight of the violence inherent in the factory farm system. Combating awful cases of abuse such as this one should be our Number One priority. The poor pigs who suffered so terribly deserve justice.

Surely, this is a cause around which omnivores, vegetarians, vegans and anyone else with a healthy respect for the sanctity of life can rally.

Horror in Manitoba

In Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is investigating a horrifying case of "severe neglect" at a farm (pictured above) in Notre Dame de Lourdes (southwest of Winnipeg).

The scene was straight out of a horror film. The owner of the farm, Martin Grenier, left 2,700 pigs in a barn without feed, water or proper ventilation.

Five hundred pigs died. Authorities were forced to euthanize another 160. The remaining 2,000 were placed in the custody of the chief veterinarian.

Grenier had plenty of food and water to provide for the pigs. Apparently, he simply couldn't be bothered to take proper care of his animals.

Even by factory farm standards, this is ghastly treatment. What is to be done to Grenier? Historically, these sorts of horrific cases of animal abuse have gone unpunished. At the most, the abusers get a slap on the wrist. Rarely are they banned from owning animals in the future. Most of the time, the Martin Greniers of the world get away with it.

Twyla Francois, the wonderful head of Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Food Animals, spoke out forcefully against the horrible treatment of these pigs. And farmers in the area are troubled by the terrible discovery on the Grenier farm. As a farmer who lives nearby put it, "We are all wondering how this could be? We don't even know how a person could ever think of doing that." (Source: See the Video of the Story here.)

The real test comes when authorities decide how to punish Grenier. Is he going to get away with it, as so many animal abusers have in the past? Or, for once in the long and sorry history of human mistreatment of animals, is the perpetrator going to receive an appropriate punishment?

We shall see.

(Thanks to Twyla Francois for bringing this to my attention.)