Woman sentenced to spend night in the woods for abandoning cats

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lake/113231020533860.xml&coll=2

Night in woods part of sentence in animal case

Judge imposes sentence for leaving 40 kittens in parks

Friday, November 18, 2005

Painesville- Michelle Murray will shiver through a winter night in the woods with no food, lights or shelter as part of a court-imposed sentence for abandoning 40 kittens in two parks.

Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti said Lake Metroparks rangers will take the 26-year-old Painesville Township woman into the forest at dusk Wednesday and pick her up at dawn on Thanksgiving Day...

Murray pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of abandoning animals after identification collars on the kittens led investigators back to her. The kittens, some as young as 4 weeks, were found by hikers in mid-September in Mason's Landing in Leroy Township and Indian Point Park in Perry Township.

Nine later died or were euthanized because they couldn't be saved...

[truthisfreedom]

1. so how should we punish white-collar crime? no newspapers for a week?

[madinmaryland]

16. I guess bush has been getting punished for years,

as he never reads the newpapers.

[bluestateguy]

2. Good!

I have no sympathy with animal cruelty, none at all.

And I'm not interested in her bullshit excuses, either. Talk to the hand, not listening...

[LostinVA]

3. I think this is an excellent punishment

Akin to a slumlord having to live in his tenement for a set amount of time.

However, for having killed nine kitties, she should also be fined out the ass or given jail time in addition to this.

Poor scared, cold kitties....

[grrl62]

4. good

"But it's inhumane for the judge to send me out in the cold with nothing but the clothes on my back," she said.


she's lucky she can wear her clothes while doing time in the woods.


grrr..

[FooFootheSnoo]

5. good punishment

I wonder what she did with the mother cats? That's terrible. I hope she learns her lesson. I don't understand why she didn't just take them to a shelter. Poor kittens.

[henslee]

6. Hate to spoil the party but if this woman gets sick or injured while

serving this sentenece, I wonder if there is any liability to the city. Personally, I think she should be banished to a hypothetical penal colony called Kitty Island where animal abusers care for abused pets and militant animal rescue folks are in charge.

[bmbmd]

7. Isn't this called

"camping"?

[smirkymonkey]

8. LOL!

:rofl:

[henslee]

14. When's last time u camped w/no food, shelter or lights in winter, wiseguy?

[NYC Liberal]

17. I've spent the night outside w/ no food or shelter in 5-degree weather

before. Wasn't hard at all.

[bmbmd]

22. Well, it has been a while.

But I can by god do it. There are a lot of things I can do, but calling a total stranger names is not one of them.

[henslee]

23. Are you reffering to me calling you "wise guy?" I apologize.

[MercutioATC]

43. Ummm, just a guess, but I think it's SUPPOSED to be uncomfortable.

She's being monitored by Rangers to make sure she doesn't freeze.

[SomewhereOutThere424]

35. LMAO

that sets it perfectly. The woman is sentenced to 'one night in camping' and all this outrage...shows america's disconnect with nature, or the world for that matter.

Serves her right...(be you for or against her. Hell...camping trips are fun).

[TX-RAT]

24. Kitty Island sounds like a great idea.

This is a very foolish decision by the Judge, and yes the city will be held liable. I'd lock her ass up for a week or so.

[pecwae]

9. Good and excellent!

Next maybe those who keep dogs chained outdoors on a three foot lead 24/7, without shelter, just out of reach of their food and water, having to sleep in their own feces, will be meted out the same judgment.

Screw Michelle Murray and everyone like her! There are too many abusers in this world, of animals and humans, who never answer for their crimes.

[Kolesar]

30. I saw a beautiful black lab stuck in the backyard behind someone's house

I saw this last November while I was riding a rail trail. I think he was in a 400 sq ft fenced area with a dog house. All he had to do was stare at the back door of the house, longing for the moment when someone gives him some food or attention. They are social animals. I cannot believe someone would buy a dog just to do that to him.

[IndyOp]

36. People buy them when they are cute puppies and then get ticked off

when the dog does not just 'sit there' looking cute. People get angry when the dog chews something up or doesn't 'hold it' for 10 hours while they are gone to work and to run errands and to have dinner with friends.

People buy them as 'guard dogs' - when we have bred labs and retrievers for generations to be soft-hearted, goofballs.

Breaks my heart -- :cry:

[Kolesar]

38. How do we talk to these people? ... eom

[IndyOp]

41. My over the top dream: Require people who breed pets to be licensed -

also require that if, at any time, someone they sell a pet to decides they don't want that pet, the pet goes back to the breeder. Breeders would be very careful how they breed, how many they breed, and who they allow to adopt the pet. The pet population would drop (as all animals sold to anyone who does not have a breeder license would be neutered by law) - and fewer pets means that those remaining would be treated better. And I am all for requiring humane societies across the nation to immediately require - by law - that all animals are spayed/neutered before being adopted for the same reason.

If we funded animal control better there would be more officers to respond to complaints.

If we helped/required local shelters, animal rescues, and breeders to do more 'owner education' before people adopt that would help too. I knew a pet store in the Berkeley, CA area that required people who wanted to adopt a long-lived bird (like an African Grey Parrot) to visit 3 times weekly for several months to get to know the bird and to demonstrate that they were ready for the commitment. Smart, I think for all people who 'place pets'. You can't just tell people about the commitment they will have to make - you have to let them experience it and then decide if they are willing to do the work required.

[Vinca]

10. I'd rather have seen her wages garnished $40 a week for 40 weeks,

the proceeds going to an animal shelter. One night of being cold isn't just unless she dies of hypothermia. I despise people who abuse animals. (Edited for the dumbest spelling mistake of my lifetime.)

[IndyOp]

37. Couldn't we do both? Fine & Night of Cold?

I like your idea and there is a certain poetic justice to the night in the forest. :grr:

[rpannier]

11. Love that judge

Not only does she get the night, but also 14 days in jail 4000 bucks in fines and probabtion. Very creative.

[liberalnurse]

44. I think she got a break with the

outside camping segment of her sentence, weather related. I hope she had to spend Thanksgiving in jail.

[Kolesar]

45. It got some tv time

I guess she was only out there a few hours then they retrieved her. She must have been freaking watching the weather forecast leading up to Wednesday night. There was a profoundly big storm with big winds coming. We even set a record low for the date this morning, that shows you how big the weather system was.

[Mizmoon]

12. I don't like "creative punishments"

there's too much room for the judge to get out of control

That said, the accused is a jerk for doing that to little kittens.

[0007]

13. I think community service in a humane society would have been

more beneficial to society to this women than a forced camping trip.

[mikeytherat]

15. A ready-made candidate for a position in the Bush Administration!

Cruel and heartless? - check
Dumped domesticated animals to suffer and/or die

Remorseless? - check
"It's inhumane to make ME stay out there with only the clothes on my back."

Irretrievably stupid? - check
Abandoned some of the animals with their collars and (traceable) ID tags

Damn! She hit the trifecta! Get her a cabinet position!

mikey_the_rat
(three rescue cats, 30+ rescue ferrets, zero tolerance for animal abusers)

[ET Awful]

19. 30+ ferrets? That's a lot of weaselly fun :)

That must be entertaining as all hell :)

[Arugula Latte]

33. "Heckuva job, Murrykins!"

They'd probably have her team up with Frist.

[Bonescrat]

18. Agree with Mizmoon...

Unless there is going to be a ranger out there watching her all night there is too much left to chance. While the crime was rather dispicable and more than a bit stupid, risking a woman's life is hyperbolic.

The forecast for that night in the lake metroparks area:

Thursday Night: Cold with snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain becoming all snow. Winds from the NW at 11 mph. Low: 26° F.

With the clothes on ones back, such weather conditions can easily cause death by hypothermia.

[JudyM]

25. I'm sure she can wear whatever she wants.. maybe spend a bunch on sub-zero

hiking/camping clothes. She won't freeze if she's prepared.

[Coventina]

20. I regretfully must say, I think this was wrong.

I am totally pro-animal, and think this woman is scum.

However,if the previous poster is correct, and there is real danger to the woman's health and/or safety with this punishment, then it is wrong.

Does she "deserve" it?

My vengeful side says yes. But if I support it, then it makes all of my anti-torture rhetoric just empty words. The point is to show that society is "better" than those it punishes.

What I would say, is that she have her wages garnished THE REST OF HER LIFE for animal welfare charities. And that she also be sentenced to jail time, and after that, community service in some sort of animal control capacity. Maybe having to scrape roadkill from the roads would be suitable, since she left those kittens to become roadkill.

[MercutioATC]

42. Does nobody read the entire text????

"Rangers also will monitor Murray to make sure she is safe and does not freeze."

[maximovich]

21. That's A Little Bizarre

I agree with the sentiment that what she did was appalling, but leaving a person in the middle of the woods is a little strange and very irresponsible. Anything that happens to her while she serves her sentence, might become a liability. Not a good idea in my book.

[Nevernose]

26. Wouldn't 1000 hours volunteering at an animal shelter be more productive?

It would not only accomplish some good, but has the slight chance of changing this woman's opinion of "forcing the humane society to do something."

[Marthe48]

27. in an earlier story

(a few weeks ago and I don't have a link) the woman was reported as rescuing strays and people bringing them to her. She had a change in finances and people still kept bringing the cats to her even when she said she couldn't help any more.

If that's part of the truth, I can sympathize with her situation --my daughter either gets strays dumped at her place or else if she sees them along the road, stops and does her darnedest to catch them and bring them to safety. She pays for shots, neutering and then in addition to all of this tirelessly looks for good homes for these rescued pets. Needless to say, her circle of friends is orphan-pet saturated. And it never stops. Locally we have a group of people who feed the feral cats, and if they can catch them, get them spayed/neutered and vacinnated to get the population healthier and controlled. The cats still live wild, but have a little bit of help. My daughter also volunteers to organize spay-nueter clinics for low-income pet owners, a program which is unfortunately going to go the way of other good programs because Ahole cut taxes and spent all our money blowing up people and property.

If the woman was in the same boat, but unable to handle the stream of unwanted pets, I imagine she got desperate to the point she did something stupid.

[LostinVA]

29. There's no excuse for her doing this

The kittens would have had a better chance at the shelter -- kittens are the cats most quickly adopted. Any no kill shelters in the area? Pet rescue? Lots of people would have fostered the kitties. I would have.

Dumping them like they did is cruel.

[noamnety]

28. Isn't that against the Geneva Convention?

1. When prison conditions are lowered to the freezing point, we call it torture and it's against the Geneva Convention. If we found out the Abu Ghraib prisoners were deliberately left in that condition, even for a night, we'd be outraged. Even if they were inside, but we knew they were being hosed down in 26 degree weather, we'd be outraged.

2. On a practical note, I'd prefer if judges aren't ordering people to use the woods as their personal toilets.

[NashVegas]

31. This Isn't So Bad

She can load up on all the down clothing she can wear. And it doesn't say 'no sleeping bag allowed.'

My first thought was 'we don't do Old Testament' punishments, but she was offered a choice between this and 90 days in jail, and she chose this.

[Arugula Latte]

34. I hope she freezes her ass off.

And gets frostbites on all her extremities.

[superconnected]

32. Karma will get her. You just don't do that.

They used her name so her work, family and friends can find out what kind of a person she is.

[Gemini Cat]

39. Sounds fair.

She's getting better treatment then the cats she abandoned.

[darkmaestro019]

40. (long, loud, hard applause) (eom)