sweetnsour,

You are right there are many problems in this world, but do you realize alot of violent criminals start out with animal torture and abuse? And omg-cattle, chickens and hogs are raised to be a food source and are not tortured as these idiots are doing to other animals. There are humane practices within the farming community. Not absolute idiocy and inhumanity as associated with the abuse and torture cases that have been reported.

animal cruely omg they slaughter chickens everyday so you can eat.  Not to mention the hogs and cattle.  There are thugs doing home invasions.  Teenagers on the street and bank robbers punkin’ the working man.. Take your focus off the animal and tackle the real problem…...........the human animal

Animal cruelty is a global issue and I hope that WKRG will continue to tackle this issue.  It is symptomatic of other problems in our society.  Violence is violence, even if the victims are not human.

Well said Clementine. It is part of a bigger problem. I also thank WKRG for covering these stories-while they are depressing, the public needs to know what is going on and changes need to be made in the system. I spoke to someone from New Orleans today (actually 2 people) and both essentially said that they know there are problems everywhere, but no one really seems to care there. That is sad. Yet we have plenty of people who care here and want to see things changed, yet the system seems to not care.

WKRG has done a tremendous job addressing the local animal cruelty and abuse issue here in our county.  Thanks to all of these terrific reporters.  I hope that the media attention will not diminish as new community developments arise.  Of all the things that we want to be known for, being one of the highest on the list for animal crimes is not one of them.  We worry about test scores in our educational system, water, sewer and road issues, sex offenders stalking young children on the internet - all of these things are important.  So are the crimes against those who cannot speak for themselves.  The scary part about animal cruelty is that it typically leads to other forms of violent behavior.  I hope that WKRG will continue to tackle this subject and will help reduce the number of abuse cases in our area.

Yes, there needs to be coverage and education, but there also needs to be conviction of those who abuse. I don’t understand why nobody questions these agencies that CAN convict-question their numbers of cases reported, question their follow-up, long term and short term and question the conviction and prosecution rate. We don’t mind questioning political leaders for answers to questions and accountability-why should this be any different? I don’t think Mobile has had a prosecution in a very long time, yet Baldwin and Escambia don’t hesitate. What’s the difference? Same laws, just how they are enforced. And I KNOW Mobile has repeat abusers that still own animals-sickening! I saw a website recently where you could track animal abuse cases-in Alabama, Mobile was the #1 county with animal cruelty cases, and some of the people on that site were repeaters and possibly even related (same last name)-tell you anything?

I have noticed the increase lately. Please wkrg, do a follow up on this and other stories alike. I want to see that whoever is responsible for this is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. More coverage equals more awareness which is what is needed to solve the problem of such a high rate of animal cruelty in AL!

Does anyone notice the increase in animal cruelty lately? For the past several months, there has been one story after another, and these are just the ones that are reported on. I know of a few that did not receive media, but should have. I wish our officials would wake up and see that this is a growing problem that needs solving.

The person who did this should be punished.  I think being used as target practice would be appropriate.  These people need jail sentences, not just fines and slaps on the hand.  This is a serious sign of violent tendencies.  These people are a menace to society and should be arrested and stopped.

Until our national legal and mental health systems address the underlying psychological problem of “animal torture” human beings that abuse animals are going to be a part of our everyday culture.  Michael Vick is going through “empathy counseling” as we speak.  Parents, if you have a child that has apparent mental and emotional problems and has been caught torturing an animal, seek immediate psychiatric help.  If you are an adult and you have been abusing animals, go and turn yourself in to local law enforcement officials.  Animal torture and cruelty is a sign of serious mental problems.  Look at what happened at Columbine High School.  Those boys were know animal abusers.  They moved on to bigger game.  Wake up people.