"Firefighter shot dogs, went on cruise"

[armyowalgreens]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/08/firefighter.kills.dogs/index.html


" ..."There were reports that he was bragging about this," she said.

Santuomo initially told investigators the dogs had ingested antifreeze and he killed them to put them out of their misery, Miller said. However, after necropsies showed the dogs were not poisoned, the firefighter admitted shooting them because he couldn't afford to board them, she said. Public records show Santuomo has twice filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and underwent a home foreclosure in 2003.

The Columbus Division of Fire has received more than 2,000 outraged e-mails and calls from the public, said Battalion Chief David Whiting, the department's spokesman.

"People are not very happy," he said. "We had people say they should do to him what he's done to the dogs. A lot of people want him fired. They don't want him coming into their house. They're worried about their animals; they're worried about their kids. They'd just as soon let their house burn down if he shows up."... "

[Mythsaje]

1. Don't you know? Dogs are disposable.

:sarcasm:

What a fuckhead.

[bullwinkle428]

2. So the COVER STORY is that he fed them anti-freeze to kill them,

in an effort to not reveal the actual method of killing?

FUCKING SADISTIC SCUMBAG. :mad: :mad:

[dysfunctional press]

34. i think the implication was that they would have ingested the anti-freeze accidentally...

[RubyDuby in GA]

3. He couldn't afford to board them so he just shot them

I didn't particularly like forking over $400 to board Rusty and Daisy for the week we were gone on vacation, but since we couldn't get a cabin that allowed pets at the lake we went to, that was our best option.

And we paid because we love our poochies and wanted them cared for and spoiled for us since we couldn't do it ourselves.

Some people are just assholes. This guy is one of them. Couldn't he get a neighbor or friend to come feed them twice a day and make sure they have water? What a son of a bitch!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. He sounds like the kind whose neighbors don't speak to him and has no friends

He really doesn't strike me as the type to nurture relationships with other people. He seems more the "I'm the most important thing in my life" kind of guy to me. You know, the selfish asshole to the highest power kind of person.


He deserves to lose his job. Who would want a person such as him as a public servant?

[ColbertWatcher]

38. "Who would want a person such as him as a public servant? " Good question.

Can anyone trust his judgment after this?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

7. By the way, anyone on DU who thinks "it was just a dog"... I FUCKING HATE YOU TOO!

Can you tell I love my dogs?


Edit: (RubyDuby in GA) - I meant to reply to my post, not yours, sorry! :blush:

[kiva]

19. Yup, just paid about that for my cat sitter and it was worth it.

This person, though, shouldn't be allowed to own a plant.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

5. Fucking asshole. I hate people who don't take care of their pets... I REALLY hate people

who are cruel to their pets.

I hope people treat him like shit after this.

[Contrary1]

9. I have a house full of critters that someone didn't take care of...

I've had to have two of the cats euthanized in the past year, because they came to me with FELK and FIV. I took care of them until their suffering became obvious.

One of those kitties was a sweetheart I called Bob. His owners just upped and moved...without him. Breaks my heart.

Some people don't deserve to have pets.

[Sukie]

6. I believe it has been proven that serial killers

many times begin as animal killers. I don't understand the lack of a real punishment in this case. The method of killing these dogs was actually similar to torture. Didn't Michael Vick just end up in jail for animal cruelty? I don't remember reading that Vick actually killed a dog with his own hands though, as this freak did.

[chatnoir]

8. So this sick $^% has the $ for a cruise but

no money to board his dogs??? Hardly.

[Withywindle]

11. Yeah, that jumped out at me too.

PSA to similar sociopaths: If you can't afford to make sure your RESPONSIBILITIES are taken care of, you can't afford to go on a fucking cruise!

[chatnoir]

12. And how hard is it to get a neighbor or friend or even pet sitter

to come over to feed and water them?? He just didn't want to be bothered, it sounds like.

And to think he's a firefighter?? Don't they have criminal checks and psych evaluations to get hired to begin with?

This sick cretin needs to lose his job.

[Withywindle]

15. Even if just didn't want to be bothered, he could have tried to find other homes.

Shelters. Rescues. Fucking Craigslist. I wish he had.

Only a sociopath would "take care of the problem" the way he did. I'm glad he's not in my city. I wouldn't want him in my place even if it was on fire.

[chatnoir]

23. See below

Neighbors offered twice and he later bragged about what he did to co-workers. :(

[Withywindle]

29. sounds like he WANTED to kill them. And enjoyed it.

:puke:

Goes beyond not trusting him to save me or my furkid - I wouldn't trust him not to SET fires.

[uppityperson]

18. Neighbors offered twice.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/daytoncrime/entries/2009/06/24/firefighter_killed_his_two_dog.html

[chatnoir]

22. The sick SOB...

And then he goes on to BRAG to coworkers what he did? :mad:

[Liberal_in_LA]

41. so he's just a loathsome person, it had nothing to do with money

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. and after TWO bankruptcys, one foreclosure, he can afford a cruise?

Man has very poor judgement.
Must be lovely to be fighting a fire with him.

[Vidar]

10. Disgusting.

[theHandpuppet]

13. Couldn't afford to board his dogs but could afford to go on a cruise?

There simply are no words.... :grr:

[valerief]

14. This is no defense for his actions, but maybe the dogs were pit bulls and no one would take them. nt

[uppityperson]

17. Wrong. Prejudiced and wrong. Neighbors offered twice.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/daytoncrime/entries/2009/06/24/firefighter_killed_his_two_dog.html

Santuomo, 43, did not want to pay to board his dogs before going on a cruise with this girlfriend, despite his neighbors offered twice to watch the animals, The Dispatch reported.

"maybe the dogs were pit bulls"? W.T.F? You seriously believe that there is no way to board a big headed short haired dog?

[bgreen1967]

20. Forgive me, I don't mean to offend, but I don't see the crime

Before you flame, understand that I think this guy is surely an asshole, and I know that mistreatment of animals is a sign that a person is likely to commit offenses against people. I also happen to like animals, and think they should be treated kindly. I support animal-cruelty laws that punish people for torturing animals, or keeping them in unsafe, unhealthy conditions. I'm not a pet person, and that probably clouds my thinking, and I acknowledge that.

That having been said, I struggle to understand what law this man is meant to have broken. He owned two animals that he no longer wanted to pay to maintain. So he killed them. He didn't torture them -- he shot them in the head multiple times.

He could have acted much more reasonably -- he could've taken them to a shelter, he could've given them away, he could've left them in the house and accepted the offer of help. He's an idiot. But idiocy and unreasonableness are not crimes. Nor is selfishness.

Apparently killing a pet IS a crime, which should be news to the dog pounds around the country that kill millions of dogs and cats every year. We as a society have decided we don't want to spend the money to board those millions of animals, so we as a society sanction killing them. Why is his decision so different from that of society at large?

Was he selfish? If so, are we? He's spending 90 days in jail, do we have to join him?

Can anyone explain why his killing his animals and our killing our animals are so different?

[uppityperson]

21. I am not a good person to ask that of since I have many of the same questions

It is not simply killing an animal, but the intent with which you kill. Killing an animal as humanely as you can, and then eating it, that is fine in our society. Killing an animal in a "mean" way, or to not eat it is not.

If I have a pet cow, and kill it and eat it, this is fine. If I have a pet horse, and do the same, it is questionable. If I have a pet dog, unacceptable (same with cat). How about a guinea pig or a rabbit? Both of those are raised for food in other places.

Are animals that are killed in factory farms killed "humanely"? No.

I am a pet owner, and have raised animals for meat (killed and butchered them also). I think this guy is an asshole, and support animal cruelty laws also.

I have a lot of the same questions. Welcome to DU.

[LisaL]

24. Are you for real? The dogs were adopted from a humane society.

Are you saying people should have a right to adopt pets and then kill as many as they please?
Hello?
WTF is wrong with people?

[uppityperson]

26. No, that is not what I am saying at all. Hello back to you

I am saying though that killing animals is not black/white good/evil so forth, that there are shades of grey.

This guy did evil. Some would say that my butchering and eating rabbits is evil because they have rabbits for pets.

There are shades of grey, some darker, some lighter. Try re-reading my previous post again.

[LisaL]

27. What shades of grey are there when someone kills

his pets because he has to go on vacation?

[uppityperson]

28. There aren't. Perhaps you need to read the rest of my posts

He is an asshole. He is evil. What he did was wrong.

Got that?

[ZombieHorde]

30. Should someone who adopts a pet chicken be allowed to kill it and eat it? nt

[uppityperson]

31. Thank you.

Lisa and I go way back to the FLDS days when he was very supportive of them and their ways. Hadn't seen him around for a while

[LisaL]

35. I didn't post on FLDS because I was

being "very supportive of them and their ways."
I didn't feel that what was done to them was appropriate under the law. In fact supreme court ruled exactly that, and they got their children back.

[uppityperson]

37. Should someone who adopts a pet chicken be allowed to kill it and eat it?

Of course you didn't support FLDS. And of course anyone who sees shades of grey regarding killing animals for any reason (food) is saying "people should have a right to adopt pets and then kill as many as they please?" That's my Lisa!

[LisaL]

42. If you adopt a chicken from a humane society, under conditions

that you would treat it as a pet, then no, you shouldn't have a right to eat it.

[LisaL]

25. So I should be able to go to a humane society, adopt pets,

kill them if I need to go on vacation, and then go right back to get new ones. And it all should be perfectly legal?
Are you people for real?

[dysfunctional press]

36. maybe we need to get some input from FORMER sen. bill frist on this issue...

he admits that when he was in med school, he would get cats from the animal shelter in order to dissect them.

whatta guy.

[Withywindle]

32. Welcome to DU!

I think there is a gap in feeling between those are "pet people" and those who are not.

I definitely am a "pet person" - I was raised with dogs who were treated by my parents as, basically, my siblings. Companion animals aren't really on a par with children exactly (except I certainly considered them my equals, friends, and family members when I WAS a child)...it's just that many of us feel when you adopt a pet, you are making a commitment to that animal's welfare for the whole of its life. It's a family relationship. It's not exactly like having a child or exactly like getting married, but the commitment is closer to that than it is to, say, buying a car or a house. Animals that we have purposely domesticated specifically to be our companions and co-dwellers, like dogs and cats, don't just share our space, there is also a sort of contract and a deep emotional relationship. I would skip meals myself to make sure my cat got fed, if it came to that. I feel that's the deal I made when I signed up to adopt her. If I could no longer care for her, I would consider it a very solemn responsibility to find the best possible option for HER, not for my convenience. Killing her would simply not be on that list of possibilities (unless she was sick and in pain, of course).

And yeah, I freely admit to a certain hypocrisy - I'm not a vegetarian, I wear leather, etcetera. But living with a pet breeds certain expectations in that animal as well as in myself, and I consider betraying that trust to be reprehensible, and people who do things like this to be beneath contempt. Why? Because I feel on a gut emotional level, to me, a dog is more like a child, or at the very least, a roommate, than it is like a cow. And someone who could so callously betray a dog's trust is not someone I would ever give my own trust to, on any level.

[Withywindle]

33. "with a girlfriend..."

What's going on in HER head?

I can't think of anything that is a bigger turnoff to me than animal cruelty. Just the very remote abstract IDEA of being with someone capable of something like this makes me want to spend an hour in the shower scrubbing my skin off with steel wool.

[Liberal_in_LA]

39. OMG!

:grr:

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. "It's the same old story. They couldn't care less about people and they love animals," says attorney

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Lorien]

43. A former "friend" of mine had his two dogs put down because he didn't

want to bother with them when his family moved out of State...then bought his kids a small, more "portable" puppy to "make it up to them". He told his young children that dogs don't have souls so it didn't matter.Fundie repug, naturally. :puke:

[bgreen1967]

44. Fundy attitude toward animals

Fundies use the Flood as a way to dismiss animals' rights. God killed many individual animals in the flood, as a consequence of killing the humans. He didn't think killing animals was any big deal, so it's easy for his followers to take a similar attitude. (Not that they all do, of course)

I'm not saying what he did was ok, or reasonable, I just don't understand why his killing of his dogs is a crime. It's a terrible waste of the animals' lives, and we can judge him for ourselves, as to whether we'd like to have a beer with him. (I wouldn't) But I don't see how a society that kills animals because it's inconvenient to keep them (e.g., dog pounds), can make it a crime when an individual does the same thing for the same reason. If it's so terrible a thing to do -- if it's "evil" -- then we ought not do it ourselves. But just like he wasn't willing to pay to care for his unwanted animals, we are also unwilling to pony up.

I CAN see his employer terminating him. His job is a position of trust, and as has been pointed out, he's definitely lost the public trust. He made some piss-poor choices and there will naturally be unpleasant consequences. But it seems hypocritical of us to apply a law to him that we don't apply to ourselves.

[mwb970]

45. Didn't anyone else wonder if this guy is a right-winger?

The first thing I thought when I heard about this story is "sounds like a right-wing @$$hole". He looks dumb, kind of like my right-wing @$$hole neighbor or a dumbed-down Glenn Beck. What he did was unspeakably cruel and selfish, and he bragged about it afterwards. All this put together spells "right-wing @$$hole" to me.

I did a little Googling (very little) and turned up Santuomo's profile on Meetup.com. He is listed as being interested in new Meetup groups about:

Adventurers, Swing Dancing, Italian Language, Free State Project, Capitalist, Ayn Rand, Bob Barr, Republican Liberty Caucus, Libertarian

Is anyone surprised?

BTW, the Free State Project is "an effort to recruit 20,000 liberty-loving people to move to New Hampshire". In this case, "liberty" apparently means "no taxes, no government".