How can you begin to decide on an appropriate punishment for this?

[Laura F.]

Man shoots horse with crossbow, films death

October 13, 2009

A man in Western Australia has been charged over allegedly shooting a horse with a crossbow and filming its death.

Police in West Australia allege the 30-year-old man from Norseman, nearly 200km south of Kalgoorlie, kicked the badly injured horse to the ground before filming its death.

He is due to appear in the Norseman Magistrates Court on October 20.

"It will be alleged that at around 7.30am on August 1, 2009, the man was in possession of a large hunting bow and a number of arrows," police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall said.

"The man then located a group of horses, and shot two arrows at a horse from around 10 metres away.

"The horse, which was in pain and shock, received substantial wounds from being shot.

"The man then kicked the horse with significant force to force it to the ground, and filmed the horse suffering and dying."

It is believed the incident, which occurred near Norsewood township, was brought to police attention after someone saw the video recording made by the man on his phone.

Police say they have seized the recording.

The man has been charged with cruelty to an animal, failing to ensure safe-keeping of firearm/ammunition and possession of unlicensed ammunition.

[Jess Brown]

Wow...it is a seriously mentally disturbed person who enjoys an animal's pain. Or tortures animals for enjoyment. Though not remotely on par with this guy, kids have been sneaking around to the wooded side of one of my barn's corrals and taking pot shots at the horses with BB guns. I've found several small, round scars on Bo's hindquarters. It's probably wrong of me, but if they get a horse in the face or eye I have a strong desire to shoot their own eye out. They also climb into the enclosure and try to ride the horses. Though also wrong of me, I'm hoping for them to get bucked off or kicked. Of course, then their parents would probably successfully sue the stables for their poor little darling getting injured...

[Rachel G]

I agree with the other poster. This man is either mentaly challanged or was probebly abused heavily as a child. If I were in charge of making a decision, I would have to say 30 to 60 years in prision, or to be hanged. These horses that this man killed could have been worth anywhere from $1,500 to $20,000. If this man was let out of prision, he would lmost for sure would go and kill another very expensive horse. This can cause the owners both finacial greif and personal grief. I feel nothing for people who kill animals deliberatly. You must take a life for a life. This man deserves hard punishment, espesialy for killing a horse.

[Andrea Wetzel]

All animal abuse stories make me sick to my stomach. Being charged with animal cruelty and failing to ensure safe-keeping of a firearm and possession are nowhere near what he deserves. I agree with Rachel that you must take a life for a life and he deserves a very strong punishment!

[cheyenne]

that is so9 discusting i cant even explain a good enough punishement!! he should suffer the pain the horse was put through!
how could anyone hurt an animal esplically one that cant defend it self ?
it makes me sick someone can take a inicent animals life just like that
i feel so sorry for that horse

[Sabrina Hawkey-Noble]

This is purely disgusting.

[Teresa Williams]

I don't think I'll share what I think should be done. Some things are better kept to yourself.

[Leah Klaassen]

I think that this is a horrible thing for anyone to do. Not only did the man kill the horse, but he enjoyed watching it suffer. Ithink he deserves way more punishment... anyone can regain money, but I think that if he goes to jail or has to do services than it will make it a more worthwhile punishment.

[slc2]

Unfortunately the laws in that country also have very slight punishments for killing horses. The charges for ammunition violations might be more.

But such a conviction might interfere with him getting a job in the future. I don't know if it helps to make an angry person unemployed, I'd rather see them get counseling and rehabilitation - not that it always works.

Such a person has been raised and lived as an adult for years without ever having learned about having compassion for animals. I think it can be an inborn lack of feeling, or it can be something a person learns and is taught. I'm not sure that either is easy to change. Humans cling to their habits and learning with just as great persistence as if it were a biological flaw.

[Lee Kelly]

Typically these types progress from torturing and killing animals; moving on to humans, a true sociopath.
Not sure there is a proper or appropriate punishment.

[slc2]

I'm going to disagree just a little bit with a few statements.

Animal cruelty isn't always the start of human abuse or having Antisocial Personality Disorder (formerly called sociopathology). Often it's a learned subculture, kind of a macho tough guy thing in which young people simply are taught that animal cruelty is not wrong, killing animals is a sign of being tough and cool.

Too, mental disturbance, such as major disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, depression, and the like, are not characterized by animal cruelty, so much as simply uncontrolled, disorganized and illogical behavior. The person often knows their behavior is wrong, and understands wrong and right, but simply cannot control their behavior because they are sick. One of the sickest schizophrenics I ever dealt with had a dog he lost his temper with, and often showed sincere regret and horror at what he had done. When my normally very shy dog avoided him, he burst into tears, saying, 'he knows, he knows'. People with uncontrollable behavior and with these major disorders, often are horrified at what they have done when they are given medication that helps to improve their thinking and helps them control their behavior. People can indeed do horrible things when they are having a very bad episode of their disease, but there is a huge difference between them and the Antisocial Personality.

The antisociall personality has a very different view of his behavior. Any regrets he or she voices are not done out of conscience or a realization of what he's done, but a desire to avoid punishment or gain some advantage. The antisocial personality has very little control of his impulses or his anger, and in that way he may seem similar to others with out of control behavior, but he is not. He simply was nor born with the part of his brain that allows him to put other people's needs ahead of his own. The only way to control the antisocial personality and to prevent them from harming others, is to supervise them.

The mentally ill person, the schizophrenic or bipolar, if he can find and tolerate and stick with a medication that helps his brain function, he or she will have a sense of conscience and empathy that is very, very different from the antisocial personality. The schizophrenic's sense of empathy or feeling for others is intact, but his illness is often so severe that he simply cannot control his own behavior. Many of these poor folks are so distraught by what they have done that they contemplate or commit suicide. One of my folks was like that. He had tried to start a fire in a building when he was very sick, and voiced regrets and horror at what had happened for the rest of his life, often wanting to end his life because he felt he was innately evil or bad. We had our hands full convincing him that he was a nice person with a very nasty disease. Andrea Yates, the Texas killer, immediately started to come around and become logical when she was given medication. She has expressed horror at what she had done and is devastated at what happened. An antisocial personality would not do this.

There ARE people who are very cruel, impulsive and out of control because their brain actually has been injured. This can be from repeated beatings, seizures, brain disease or infection, or simply from the brain not growing properly. My friend's adopted son had been beaten on the head with a pipe, and he couldn't seem to plan, organize or evaluate his own behavior. A visit to his apartment was a horror. He could not look around and see that it needed to be cleaned, or understand that he couldn't spend his paycheck all on comic books. He too harmed animals. His tragedy drove his mother into a severe depression.

There is no medication that substitutes for having intact frontal lobes of the brain, that help with planning, evaluating and making decisions. These people also may seem somewhat like an antisocial personality, but their situation is a tragedy.

But make no mistake. There are plenty of people who are simply taught to be cruel, or have Antisocial Personality Disorder, without ever having been mistreated, indulged or abused.