Vegas teens receive a slap on the wrist for killing kittens

A Las Vegas resident said a kitten was drowned beside a cup of water and another was inside it. Photo courtesy of Fox5 – Las Vegas

Two teens has been arrested for torturing and killing kittens.  Many animal advocates were hoping they would be sentenced under the Cooney’s law which provides harsher penalties for animal cruelty. Instead, the Vegas teens receive a slap on the wrist for killing kittens.

A Las Vegas resident witnesses the acts of animal cruelty and took pictures.  She even received death threats from the unidentified teens.

They were finally arrested and it was hoped they would be sentenced under a new law passed a year ago. The  Cooney’s Law provides harsher measures for animal cruelty. The law makes the killing of animals such as dogs and cats a felony in Nevada joining 44 other states who have similar laws.

Jobs from Indeed

jobs by

Instead the teens received 30 days in jail and were ordered to pay a $200 fine. They will also be placed on 12 months of probation.

They pleaded  guilty to one count of animal cruelty and admitted they held the animals under water in a small cup outside a home. Since the teens have already served 20 days in jail, they are due to be released in the next week.

The two teenage boys are not allowed to have contact with one another during the probationary period and also must perform 200 hours of community service at an animal shelter. They also must receive counseling and are not allowed to leave their homes except to attend community service or school.

Is a 30 day jail sentence enough?  Will they be closely supervised and will their actions be closely monitored when performing their community service.

Since these teenagers have already clearly demonstrated their propensity to killing animals and then threatening the homeowner who witnessed it, animal advocate groups have what appears to be very legitimate concerns and are outraged that the Las Vegas teens receive a slap on the wrist for killing kittens.

According to Fox5, Judge William Voy, who presided over the matter, had this to say,

One of the things that I thought about prior to today is how I could fashion some form of community service that would actually bring to play some education and empathy.

Will the forced education and counseling magically “cure” the teens of what many believe is  deep seated psychological problems.  That’s the best case scenario.  Or will the two teens simply move on to torturing and killing humans? The link between children killing animals and growing up to be killers cannot be denied.

Related articles

• Group Plans Protest Outside Hearing for Teens Accused of Animal Abuse(8newsnow.com)

  ---

• Woman killed 38 kittens in her freezer(thelocal.se)

  ---

Follow