Sadistic.
Sadistic is a fitting word for the 24-year-old Victoria man who beat a 12-week-old pitt bull puppy to death in his hotel room.
Fuelled by a 'roid rage, the young man repeatedly beat Bandit, causing the small puppy to suffer 10 broken ribs, a broken jaw and orbital bone, missing teeth and soft tissue damage to the abdomen.
The dog was rushed to a veterinary hospital after guests heard him crying out in pain, but was dead upon arrival. Bandit died from internal bleeding.
I will never understand what could ever possess a person to beat a helpless animal.
Newspaper reports from the court hearing state the incident the defence lawyer claimed the beating occurred in part because the young man was addicted to bodybuilding steroids and suffered self-esteem issues.
This may be so, but it still doesn't give him the right to take out his anger and frustration on poor Bandit. What's worse is, the dog wasn't his companion. An acquaintance of his had asked him to watch the puppy for a few days. I'd be willing to bet my right arm the acquaintance regrets this decision now.
As someone with a four-legged friend at home, I would be devastated if someone harmed my Keisha. In many ways, she is my surrogate child. I wouldn't beat a child no matter who angry I became, so why would I beat an animal.
Sadly, not everyone has this same thought process. Many still view dogs as just that, a dog. They don't see how a dog can become a member of the family.
Thankfully, the lawmakers are taking notice and putting laws into place which protect dogs from abuse.
In the young Victoria man's case, he was sentenced to six-months in jail after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal. He also admitted to a breach of recognizance by consuming or possessing a controlled substance, mainly steroids.
Six-months in jail for animal abuse is almost unheard of, and will hopefully act as a deterrent for people in the future who feel the need to beat an animal senseless.
It's likely as more members of society view animal abuse morally reprehensible, tougher sentences will be issued to those who wilfully inflict pain upon animals.
In another news item involving animal abuse, I'm interested to see what will happen in a case originated in Whistler, B.C.
According to reports which recently surfaced, 100 healthy sled dogs were brutally slaughtered over the course of two days after the Olympics last year. The dogs were reportedly rounded up, shot or stabbed, and left in a mass grave.
It's legal to euthanize your own dog with a single bullet to the head, but it's an offence to cause undue harm or suffering.
This story surfaced nearly 10 months after the incident, an employee of Outdoor Adventure Whistler filed a claim saying he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The dogs were apparently ordered to be shot after the economic turndown that occurred after the Vancouver Olympics made it no longer viable to keep the dogs. It's understandable the company needed to get rid of the sled dogs, but it's not understandable why he ordered them killed.
Why not adopt them out? There's no doubt in my mind people would have gobbled up the opportunity to adopt a sled dog. They're absolutely stunning creatures.
But instead, 100 of them met a horrible death. One dog had the left side of the cheek blown off - a shot that clearly didn't kill her - while another dog, who was severely injured attempted to crawl out of the mass grave. When the worker saw this, the worker climbed down into the mass grave and killed the poor dog.
Pure Sadism. That's all I have to say.
