Suspended sentence? Shame. He should have to serve the full time and hopefully get his ass kicked repeatedly. Scumbag.

What the fuck?!?!? Here's a thought...

He's a sick bastard, but has anybody noticed that if he had killed four people and somebody said the same thing, they'd be chastised as a rectionary vigilante or some such bullshit. I'm just saying.

All I suggested is that it would be alright if a giant disembodied cat head shot him with lazer beams that come out of its eyeballs. What's so wrong with that?

He's a sick bastard, but has anybody noticed that if he had killed four people and somebody said the same thing, they'd be chastised as a rectionary vigilante or some such bullshit. I'm just saying.

No, I don't think they would be chastised at all.

If this guy threw four people into a fire, the internet would call for his blood and make comments about Bubba His New Cellmate Who Hasn't Gotten Laid In Months and not surviving prison, etc. and the state would be outraged enough to make their views known by either killing him or locking him up for life. In this case, people are pissed because these are kittens that he tortured to death and he'll just end up in jail for a year, not prison but stupid county lockup where he'll be treated with kid gloves because everyone else is in there for 30 day misdemeanor sentences, and then he'll get out and go back to raping dogs or whatever else a sick fuck like that does when he's not out getting drunk and beating his girlfriend.

So, no, if they were people, the reaction, both on the internet and in real life, would be much stronger and no one would be called a vigilante unless they went to the courthouse and shot him before he could be sentenced. Even then the shooter would be hailed as a hero by most.

Oh, I didn't pay attention to the 'suspended sentence' part.

Personally, if this guy happens to die painfully while trapped in a burning car, I might stop being an atheist.

cmonkey, make no mistake, this guy's actions disgust me and I hope his stay in prison is miserable, but I've been on crime threads on MeFi where people have been chastised as reactionary or worse for wishing violent death or prison rape on murderers. It just strikes me as strange than when cute widdle kittens are involved, it's suddenly OK to get all 'hang em!'

Personally, if this guy happens to die painfully while trapped in a burning car, I might stop being an atheist.

If I said the same thing about a murderer of humans, no matter how vile, there'd be a pack of people chastising me as a barbarian (and to be fair , others cheering me on) within seconds. I think both actions are despicable. I'm just looking for consistency here.

I started saying all sorts of things, but stopped myself. I agree with jonmc. I think all murderers should be put to death (with the exception of self defense) but then wouldn't that make me a murderer, too? Deplorable man.

I'm just looking for consistency here.

How can you expect to get consistancy from 6 billion people, all of whom have their own opinions on things? If you said that you hoped a human murderer died in a car fire, I'd agree with you. There, consistancy.

I don't understand. It appears MD actually HAS real animal cruelty laws, unlike OH where we're fighting to get them past misdemeanor.

Yet he was convicted, sentenced to 1 & 1/2 years, and it was all suspended except a paltry 4 months he spent in JAIL, NOT PRISON, but just measly old JAIL where the worst he had to put up with was the occasional domestic offender with bad body odor or maybe an argument with a DUI-er over what channel to watch during TV time?

Hell. Toss the judge in and throw away the key, too.

I suppose it has something to do with the plea bargain bit they arranged, though.

Toss his lawyer in hell.

Robert Tomlin, 22, of Smithsburg was sentenced Monday to 1 1/2 years in jail for aggravated animal cruelty. Washington County Circuit Judge John McDowell suspended the sentence except for the 134 days Tomlin has served since his arrest.

In the plea bargain, charges of assault for allegedly striking former girlfriend Kelli Ann Green and destruction of property were dropped.

jrossi said a while ago in a similar post something to the effect "imagine what this person's life must have been like to become someone who tortures defenseless animals". If you look at it this way, you will (maybe) not wish for this person's death or even lockaway. I stand by this idea too. That said, of course, I hope someone rehabilitates the shit out of him.

jrossi said a while ago in a similar post something to the effect "imagine what this person's life must have been like to become someone who tortures defenseless animals".

That's making a big assumption: that such behavior is enviornmentally caused as opposed to genetic or some mix thereof. Jury's still out on that.

that such behavior is environmentally caused as opposed to genetic or some mix thereof

antisocial behavior which is demonstrated with aggressiveness and cruelty like this, I bet you, are environmentally caused/fostered. Of course there might be a genetic predisposition, faulty wiring, but again I bet you it is statistically insignificant.

My money would be on a combo platter of genetics and enviornment, but my point is that nobody knows. And plenty of people manage to come from bad enviornments and while I doubt any are unaffected, most arent animal torturers, hit men or serial killers. (and torturing animals, when combined with bed wetting and fire setting is (statistically) linked to sociopathy).

And plenty of people manage to come from bad environments

yes, I agree with that, jon. A lot of people are born into a lot of stuff and many beat the odds. Good for them. I guess all I am saying is that it is not helpful to focus on the guilty-at-hand and forget what's behind him/her that made them that kind of person. Otherwise one might essentially link genetic abnormalities with respect to any aggressive behavior to geographical areas, neighborhoods, races, income etc. In fact, I am talking in general and not specifically about this person, since I don't know what an expert's evaluation is for his case.

Wow...I can't believe you remember that, carmina. Guess I can't complain that no one listens to me anymore.

I have a friend who is the head of the psych dept. for a large city's penal system. It's her job to pick the brains of some of society's most horrible criminals. She told me once that in all her years on the job only twice has she ever felt someone was just plain evil. Everyone else was just broken somehow.

There's something about becoming a parent that has made me really cling to that. It's my responsibility to make sure that my girly doesn't get broken and that she knows enough to never break anyone else (and that applies to critters, too).

And also, I'm totally for laser cats as a rehabilitation tool.

SUMMON THE LASER CATS!!!

Yey lasers...?

Yey lasers are the lethalest, mudpuppie. But then, you know that.

I do, elizard, I do. *nods*

should the punishment depend on the cuteness of the animal? because i ate chicken nuggets yesterday. factory-farmed and brutally slaughtered. i dipped their remains in ranch dressing and feasted upon charred corpses. delicious!