Justice for the dragged dogs by their owner, John Moran in Macon County, Illinois

Animal cruelty and abuse has long been overlooked here in Macon County. We want our legal system to take animal cruelty/abuse seriously. If we don't stand up for our voiceless, furry friends who will.

John Moran was arrested for allegedly dragging dogs behind his van.  http://www.wandtv.com/story/32402685/niantic-man-arrested-for-allegedly-dragging-dogs-behind-van

To the States Attorney's Office of Macon County, IL:

We write to respectfully request that you (impose/seek) the maximum penalty against John Moran, who allegedly committed the crime of aggravated cruelty to animals.  

We encourage you to prosecute John Moran to the fullest extent of the law for his cruel and remorseless crime. If you don't already know, social scientists and law enforcement officials have identified animal abuse as a symptom of emotional illness and a precursor to violent crimes against human beings. For your reference I have attached several examples of convicted criminals with a background of animal abuse.

Several states now prosecute animal abuse as a felony offense and impose mandatory psychiatric counseling along with jail time and fines.  This gentleman was dragging his dogs outside of the car in attempt to bring them home after they ran off. This is not the first time his dogs have ran off as stated below by a few people that commented on the WAND Facebook page under the article of the arrest of Mr. Moran. This also shows animal neglect and the disregard for the leash law/ordinance in our community, along with the alleged act he committed and was arrested for.

As the trail of sad examples below show, and recent violence across our county to attest to; it is time to send a clear message to people capable of intentionally inflicting serious injury or death to helpless animals, that such brutal and senseless crimes will not be tolerated and there are guaranteed consequences for those who would show such disdain for the law. (As is the case recently involving Alexis Lowery and Jatavia Singleton in the brutal-forced kicking of that tiny kitten.)

As a society we must call a halt to the acceptance of animal cruelty and enforce a policy of harsh punishment for such crimes!!! To allow individuals guilty of perpetrating such cruel and violent acts to go unpunished or not sufficiently punished, would be to sanction these horrific crimes and would permit them, and others, to possibly go on to commit serious and violent crimes against innocent human beings or animals.

Please protect the children, animals and citizens of Macon County, Illinois by giving anyone that abuses an animal in any way to be given jail time, a large fine, mandatory psychiatric counseling and no right to ever own an animal again. Anyone who devalues life in this manner should not be walking the streets without immediate psychiatric treatment. 

We have written two petitions in regard to animal abuse in Macon County that occurred recently. (This petition and a petition for Alexis Lowery and Jatavia Singleton)  There also have been several incidents that also constitute as abuse that we have reported to Macon County Animal Control and Macon County Sheriff, wherein, we were told that there was nothing they can do!!

As stated above, there are many states and counties now taking the fact of animal abuse seriously and mandating the harshest law possible for the crime of animal abuse committed.  With this crime, the recent kicking of the kitten and much more that has been reported (and nothing done) we are how PLEADING for you to show the people of Macon County and the people in other states and counties, that Macon County will NOT tolerate animal abuse and cruelty and that Macon County is an outstanding place to live, that cares not only about its people, but the animals too!!

 “Animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind’s capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don’t; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us.” ― Matthew Scully

"Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man." ― Arthur Schopenhauer

ATTACHMENT:

CASES OF ANIMAL ABUSERS PROGRESSING TO HUMAN VIOLENCE

Recent cases in the news of random attacks on high school students and children show that each disturbed individual had a history of animal abuse. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty against animals often move on to their fellow humans. The following list is just a "sample" of people who first committed crimes against animals and graduated to committing crimes against humans. EACH TIME WE IGNORE ANIMAL ABUSE, WE ALLOW THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE PERPETUATOR'S EMOTIONAL ILLNESS WILL ESCALATE INTO HUMAN TRAGEDY, SOMETIMES OF EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS!

ANIMAL VICTIMS /HUMAN VICTIMS: REPORTS FROM POLICE CASE FILES:  

1.  Russell Weston Jr., tortured and killed 12 cats, by burning, cutting their tails, paws, ears off, put toxic chemicals in their eyes, blinding them, forcing them to eat poison, hanging them from trees; the noose loose enough to create a slow and painful death, as the cat/kitten struggles to free itself as the noose gets tighter with each attempt. Later killed 2 officers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.

2  Jeffery Dahmer loved to dissect animals (he learned this in school). Later he dissected boys and kept their body parts in the refrigerator. Murdered 17 men.

1. On May 21, 1998 in Springfield, Oregon; 15-year-old Kip Kinkel set a live cat on fire and dragged the innocent creature through the main street of town. He walked into his high school cafeteria and opened fire on his classmates. Two classmates were killed and 22 others injured, four critically. Later that day, police found his parents shot to death in their home.

4. Albert De Salvo, the "Boston Strangler," would place a dog and cat in a crate with a partition between them. After starving the animals for several days, he would remove the partition and watch them kill each other. He raped and killed 13 women by strangulation. He would often pose the bodies in a shocking manner after their murders.

5. Richard Allen Davis set numerous cats on fire. He killed all of Polly Klaus' animals before abducting & murdering Polly Klaus, aged 12, from her bedroom.

6.  Eleven-year-old Andrew Golden, 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson, tortured and killed dogs. A friend of Golden stated that "he shoots dogs all the time with a .22." On March 24, 1998, in Jonesboro, Arkansas; Golden and Johnson shot and killed four students and one teacher during a fire drill at their school.

7. Prior to commiting multiple murders, Luke Woodham, age 16, wrote in his personal journal that he and an accomplice beat, burned and tortured his dog, Sparkle, to death. Woodham said it was "true beauty." He poured liquid fuel down his dog's throat and set fire to her neck, both inside and outside. On 10/1/1977, Woodham stabbed his mother to death and then went to his high school where he shot and killed two classmates -- two girls aged 16 and 17, and injured seven others. In June 1998, Woodham was found guilty of three murders and seven counts of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to three life sentences and an additional 20 years for each assault.

8. Theodore Robert Bundy was forced to witness animal cruelty by his grandfather. He later killed thirty-three women.

9. Michael Cartier pulled numerous rabbit's legs out of their sockets when he was four years old and threw a kitten through a closed window. He went on to shoot Kristin Lardner three times in the head, killing her.

10.  Michael Ross, Connecticut strangler of 8 women, was forced by his father as a 5 year old boy to strangle the sick chicks on their poultry farm.

11. Henry Lee Lucas killed numerous animals and had sex with their corpses. He killed his mother, common law wife and an unknown number of people.

12.  Edward Kemperer cut up two cats. He later killed his grandparents, his mother and seven other women. 

13. Richard Speck threw a bird into a ventilator fan. Killed eight women.

14. Randy Roth taped a cat to a car's engine and used an industrial sander on a frog. Killed two of his wives and attempted to kill a third.

15. David Richard Davis shot and killed two healthy ponies, threw a wine bottle at a pair of kittens and hunted with illegal methods. Murdered his wife, Shannon Mohr Davis, for insurance money.

16. Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Monster, tortured dogs, and practiced bestiality while killing the animal. Murdered or attempted to murder over 50 men, women and children.

17. Richard Trenton Chase, "The Vampire Killer of Sacramento," bit the heads off birds, drained animals for their blood, killed animals for their organs, and later killed six people in random attacks. One police officer who was at the scene of the first murder, confessed to having nightmares about the crime or months afterwards.

18. The Kobe Killer, an as yet unnamed 15-year-old boy in Japan, beheaded a cat ad strangled several pigeons. Decapitated 11-year-old Jun Hase, and battered to death a 10-year-old girl with a hammer, and assaulted three other children in separate attacks.

19. Richard William Leonard's grandmother forced him to kill and multilate cats and kittens when he was a child. He later killed Stephen Dempsey with a bow and arrow. He also killed Ezzedine Bahmad by slashing his throat.

20.  Tom Dillion murdered people's pets. He shot and killed Jamie Paxton, aged 21; Claude Hawkins, aged 49; Donald Welling, aged 35; Kevin Loring, aged 30; and Gary Bradely, aged 44.

21. At 9 years old, Eric Smith strangled a neighbor's cat. At 13 years old, he bludgeoned four-year-old Derrick Robie to death. Smith lured the little boy into the woods, choked him, sodomized him with a stick, and then beat him to death with a rock.

22. When Jack Bassenti's dog had puppies, he buried all but one of them alive. He later raped and murdered three women.

23. David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam," poisoned his mother's parakeet out of jealousy. He later shot thirteen young men and women. Six people died and at least two suffered permanent disabilities.

24. Arthur Shawcross repeatedly threw a kitten into a lake until the kitten drowned from exhaustion. Killed a young girl. Then, after serving 15-1/2 years in prison, he killed 11 more women.

25. Michael Perry decapitated a neighbor's dog. He later killed his parents, his infant nephew and two neighbors.

26. Jason Massey killed cats, dogs and cows. Killed his thirteen year old stepsister & a fourteen year old boy.

27. Patrick Sherrill Stole neighborhood pets and encouraged his dog to attack them. Killed 14 people at his workplace.

28. Keith Hunter Jesperson, "The Happy Face Killer," strangled a cat. He is known to have killed at least one woman.

29. Joel Steinburg refused medical treatment for his adopted daughter Lisa's pet rabbit when it broke its leg. He later killed her; when she was found, Lisa had extensive bruises all over her body from repeated abuse."