i hate people.
Aug. 23rd, 2002 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crankylexhttp://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/08/22/cat.killing.ap/index.html
Man who killed tenant's cats acquitted of cruelty charge
August 23, 2002 Posted: 1:21 AM EDT (0521 GMT)
FREDERICK, Maryland (AP) -- A landlord who shot and killed two cats after a tenant refused to get rid of them was acquitted of felony charges, the first court test of a new Maryland law designed to stiffen penalties for animal cruelty.
A judge ruled that Eric Grossnickle destroyed the cats in a legally acceptable manner when he blasted them with a 12-gauge shotgun.
"I don't like what he did, but it's not a crime under Maryland law," Circuit Judge Mary Stepler said on Wednesday.
The ruling left the cats' owner, April Ritch, frustrated and tearful.
"There is no justice whatsoever," Ritch said, clutching a tin box containing Babe's and Angel's remains. "It's not a crime to take somebody's house pets from their home and shoot them and kill them?"
Grossnickle was also acquitted of theft, but convicted on two counts of malicious destruction of property, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Grossnickle did not deny shooting the cats, which were killed October 1, the same day the animal cruelty law took effect. According to court testimony, he told Ritch five times to get rid of the cats or he would do it for her because they were reducing the home's value by damaging the walls and carpets.
Although the state prohibits inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on animals, it allows killing them humanely for food processing, hunting, scientific research, pest control, and agricultural practices.
Since Grossnickle killed the cats quickly, using a method accepted by farmers and with no intention of causing them unnecessary suffering, he did not break the law, Stepler said.
Assistant State's Attorney Laura Corbett said the cats were "unnecessarily, unjustifiably and, therefore, cruelly killed."
Court rules prohibit the state from appealing Stepler's verdict. The judge said sentencing would be in six weeks but did not specify a date.
Grossnickle and his attorney, Richard P. Bricken, refused to comment afterward.
The animal cruelty law made deliberate acts of torture and mutilation of animals a felony instead of a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum jail term of three years.
***
Mr. Grossnickle should be very grateful that his tenant was Ms. Ritch and not me.
She sued him
I would have annihilated him with my bare hands.
I'm sitting here thinking about someone harming Damien. I love all my pets dearly and would gladly maim or kill to keep them safe, but Damien was my first baby and as such occupies a special place in my heart.
If someone hurt him and by chance managed to get away, they would have to lock me away for the rest of my life. Nothing would stop me from finding that person and doing to them what they did to him. I can't imagine the violence involved.
As for him being within his rights...
See, the great thing about owning a rental property is when you dislike what your tenants are doing, you can EVICT THEM. If she had a lease and the 'no pets' clause was in her lease and she refused to get rid of them, he could have had her legally evicted. Even if she had no lease, he still could have evicted her.
There was no need to take a shotgun and SHOOT HER CATS.
Why are there people like this? Someone should beat him to death with a bat. At least he'd have a fighting chance.
Unlike the cats.
Man who killed tenant's cats acquitted of cruelty charge
August 23, 2002 Posted: 1:21 AM EDT (0521 GMT)
FREDERICK, Maryland (AP) -- A landlord who shot and killed two cats after a tenant refused to get rid of them was acquitted of felony charges, the first court test of a new Maryland law designed to stiffen penalties for animal cruelty.
A judge ruled that Eric Grossnickle destroyed the cats in a legally acceptable manner when he blasted them with a 12-gauge shotgun.
"I don't like what he did, but it's not a crime under Maryland law," Circuit Judge Mary Stepler said on Wednesday.
The ruling left the cats' owner, April Ritch, frustrated and tearful.
"There is no justice whatsoever," Ritch said, clutching a tin box containing Babe's and Angel's remains. "It's not a crime to take somebody's house pets from their home and shoot them and kill them?"
Grossnickle was also acquitted of theft, but convicted on two counts of malicious destruction of property, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Grossnickle did not deny shooting the cats, which were killed October 1, the same day the animal cruelty law took effect. According to court testimony, he told Ritch five times to get rid of the cats or he would do it for her because they were reducing the home's value by damaging the walls and carpets.
Although the state prohibits inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on animals, it allows killing them humanely for food processing, hunting, scientific research, pest control, and agricultural practices.
Since Grossnickle killed the cats quickly, using a method accepted by farmers and with no intention of causing them unnecessary suffering, he did not break the law, Stepler said.
Assistant State's Attorney Laura Corbett said the cats were "unnecessarily, unjustifiably and, therefore, cruelly killed."
Court rules prohibit the state from appealing Stepler's verdict. The judge said sentencing would be in six weeks but did not specify a date.
Grossnickle and his attorney, Richard P. Bricken, refused to comment afterward.
The animal cruelty law made deliberate acts of torture and mutilation of animals a felony instead of a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum jail term of three years.
***
Mr. Grossnickle should be very grateful that his tenant was Ms. Ritch and not me.
She sued him
I would have annihilated him with my bare hands.
I'm sitting here thinking about someone harming Damien. I love all my pets dearly and would gladly maim or kill to keep them safe, but Damien was my first baby and as such occupies a special place in my heart.
If someone hurt him and by chance managed to get away, they would have to lock me away for the rest of my life. Nothing would stop me from finding that person and doing to them what they did to him. I can't imagine the violence involved.
As for him being within his rights...
See, the great thing about owning a rental property is when you dislike what your tenants are doing, you can EVICT THEM. If she had a lease and the 'no pets' clause was in her lease and she refused to get rid of them, he could have had her legally evicted. Even if she had no lease, he still could have evicted her.
There was no need to take a shotgun and SHOOT HER CATS.
Why are there people like this? Someone should beat him to death with a bat. At least he'd have a fighting chance.
Unlike the cats.
