Cruelty's legacy

The torture and death of puppy in Kansas has revived calls to toughen penalties

BY TINA SUSMAN | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

August 26, 2005

WICHITA, Kan. - Few thought the tortured puppy would survive when he was brought, burned and bound with wires, to the Heartland Animal Hospital on Aug. 1.

When veterinarians removed the ligatures, though, the black lab struggled to his feet, despite a broken leg, wagged his tail, and licked hospital manager Julie Breault's fingers.

The vets abandoned thoughts of euthanasia, the determined little dog was dubbed Magnum, and his path toward recovery began dominating the news, at times even eclipsing stories about Wichita's infamous BTK serial killer, Dennis Rader.

It was fitting, then, that when Magnum died of his hideous wounds five days later, Wichitans, hundreds of whom attended a memorial for the puppy, were more than grief-stricken. They were angry - so angry that they raised more than $18,000 in reward money for information leading to Magnum's killer, and have revived a long-fought battle to make animal cruelty a felony in Kansas.

"I knew it would be taken a certain way. I just didn't know it would be taken to this level," said Drew Bessey, superintendent of the Wichita Animal Shelter, who in 14 years on the job had never seen anything like it. The shelter's phone lines were tied up for days with people calling in tips.

Since Magnum's discovery, four other dogs with chemical burns similar to his have been brought to shelters in Wichita and neighboring Newton, though officials don't know if the cases are related.

Kansas is one of nine states that still considers animal cruelty a misdemeanor, so if any of the abusers are caught, they could receive just a $2,500 fine and a year in jail. Even where animal cruelty is a felony, some states, such as New York, consider it a felony only when certain animals - usually dogs, cats or guide animals - are abused.

Attitudes are changing. A Wisconsin man got 12 years in 1997 for killing a puppy and several cats, and in 2004, a California man who beheaded a dog was given 25 years under the state's three-strikes law.

Still, animal advocates say the system lags behind a society that no longer sees pets as mere property. "It really reflects misplaced priorities when you can go to jail for a longer time for burning a photograph of someone's dog than for burning a dog," said Michael Markarian of the Humane Society of the United States. "The laws just need to catch up with society's values."

Just as important, said Markarian, is the link psychologists and law enforcement officials have found between people who abuse animals as children, and who become violent adults. That has resonated loudly here in Kansas, where Rader, who was sentenced to 10 life terms Aug. 18 for the torture-murders of 10 people, told police he strangled dogs and cats before moving on to people.

Kansas Sen. Dennis Haley, who for years has championed Scruffy's Law, which would make animal cruelty a felony, said he hoped the revelation "finally will give Scruffy's Law some legs" when he reintroduces the legislation in January.

The bill arose from the 1997 death of Scruffy, a Yorkshire terrier, in Kansas City, Kan. Four men, aged 17 to 21, shot the dog, then placed him still alive into a bag and set it afire.

They filmed the entire event.

Haley, a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state, blames the bill's failure to pass on several factors, including a "narrow, myopic agenda" by some conservative lawmakers who he said want to link it to other issues, such as abortion. Several of the scores of letters that people have written to Kansas newsapers about Magnum's death, for example, have lamented the public outcry over animal abuse at a time when abortion is legal.

Animal-rights advocates say the law has faltered because some don't consider it harsh enough. Under the class of felony mandated by Scruffy's Law, first-time offenders could get probation, not jail time.

Haley prefers it that way. "I'd rather see a constructive attempt to rehabilitate a person, not have them sitting in prison getting angrier at animals," he said. Better, he said, to require animal abusers to get professional counseling - as mandated in many states that consider animal cruelty a felony.

At the Aug. 11 memorial for Magnum, animal lovers collected signatures for petitions demanding passage of Scruffy's Law. They also passed out Wanted posters advertising the reward money and showing Magnum, wrapped in blankets, his forehead scorched to the skin and an IV tube protruding from his tiny body.

Magnum was found when passersby heard pants coming from a trash bin. When Animal Control officers brought the puppy to Heartland, Breault said, he was covered in maggots and chemical burns. His legs had been bound with wires that sliced into his skin. One paw had been stuffed into his mouth.

He appeared to be recovering but took a turn for the worse Aug. 5 and died.

At the memorial, mourners watched as his ashes were scattered beneath a tree in the garden outside the animal hospital. Those who couldn't attend dropped by later, bearing chewbones, dog dishes and animal treats, which they placed under the tree. Many wept.

"No living being deserves to be treated like that," said Ashley Peckman, a Heartland receptionist.

By Aug. 15, Bessey said, Animal Control officials were following several leads, and he was hopeful the reward money would lead to Magnum's killer.

"Somebody will rat out somebody," he said.