It just got harder to get away with cowardly acts of cruelty to animals. In New York City, abusers were recently convicted in two separate cases because DNA evidence from their victims linked them to their crimes. One case involved a cat named Scruffy who was doused in lighter fluid and set on fire, leaving the cat severely burned down to the muscles in his legs. The other case involved a cat named Madea, who was beaten so viciously that her lungs were lacerated and she had to be euthanized.
Collecting and using animals’ DNA to convict abusers is becoming more common among law-enforcement agencies. Authorities now even have a national DNA database of dogs used in fights to help them track down dogfighters. Penalties for cruelty to animals get harsher every year. And as more people become aware of “the link”—animal abusers’ tendency to take their issues out on human victims as well—more people are coming forward and notifying authorities of cruelty, even when it means blowing the whistle on a friend or family member.
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| DNA testing wasn’t necessary to convict Big Girl’s abuser. PETA staffers found her, barely breathing, right in his backyard |
If you suspect an animal is being abused, call the authorities right away. Animals can’t be saved—and their abusers can’t be brought to justice—if no one reports the crime.
