Hello everyone,

I know this is a very difficult topic for all of us and our emotions run very high.  However, I am hoping we can all stay productive.  What can we do to help with these situations?  Many of us have seen posts here and elsewhere where victims are blamed for what happened, such as, "It's their fault their dog died because they took him to Petco for grooming."  Non-productive and hurtful!  We all get angry and emotional, but please let's try to keep that kind of comment to a minimum. 

The other issue that really concerns me is the psycho's.  I've looked at many of the links listed here and sometimes I find comments by a sicko who enjoys animal abuse (or a flamer pretending to).  I am hoping never to see those comments here.  If any of you see any posts like that, please let me know and I'll delete it.  If the post is bad enough, I'll recommend that the administrators ban that individual.

I think we have a lot of work to do.  Many public officials, such as county sheriffs, some judges, county prosecutors, even school board members are elected, which gives us power.  Many other public officials answer to elected officials.  We have to figure out ways to educate parents.  Many want to hide from this topic rather than admit their child is very, seriously disturbed.  Disturbed children need help.  Friends/siblings of these children need to be encouraged to talk to a trustworthy adult.  Law enforcement and social services need to pay attention to these crimes.

I remember maybe 30 years ago a judge got thrown off the bench for saying a young girl got raped because her pants were to tight.  We can fight these people with the "boys will be boys" mentality.  Rape and domestic violence came out of the closet to be recognized for the heinous crimes that they are.  I'm hoping we can do the same with animal abuse.

Thanks,
SusanP