Man sent to jail for cat burning - Says "What's the big deal?"

[Champ]

Noting that the crime went "way, way beyond everything that a civilized society can tolerate," a Bucks County judge Thursday rejected a Bristol Township man's plea for probation and sentenced him to six to 23 months in prison for setting a cat on fire.

Daniel Culligan, 28, also must serve two years of probation after he's released from the county jail. Judge David Heckler ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine and complete 40 hours of community service.

"What you did was cruel," Heckler said. "You chose to do something that was certainly going to cause unimaginable agony to another living creature."

<snip>

A tipster led police to Culligan in January. During questioning, police records say Culligan asked the officers, "What's the big deal? Everyone has hurt cats or squirrels."

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-08272004-355844.html

[bluestateguy]

1. Now he can be Vito's girlfriend in prison

I have no tolerance for animal abusers.

In fact I think he should just be shot.

[jukes]

23. i'd sugg

public burning.

[phantom power]

2. His dad called him an "animal lover"?

Nobody who loves animals could do that.

[Lavender Brown]

3. What's the big deal?

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[nickinSTL]

4. What's the big deal? Everyone has hurt cats or squirrels

This @$$hole deserves a HELL of a lot more than 23 months.

He's got serious problems, and next time it could be a 13 year old walking home alone or a woman in a parking lot.

Sick b@$tards like this need to be locked up. And committed for pscyhological reasons after they've done their time. Keep them off the damn streets.

(note- the injuring of animals is a particular 'thing' for me. If it were up to me, they'd set the b@$tard on fire)

[cheezus]

6. buring people okay, buring animals bad

looks like cat burner isn't the only crazy out there.

[cheezus]

5. Two years??? Waaaaay too harsh

no, people shouldn't be burning cats. But for crying out loud, it's an animal.

[phantom power]

8. humans are animals, too

[cheezus]

9. thank you, captain obvious

humans are animals

cats are animals

does that mean cats are humans? NO!!!!

[phantom power]

12. you are saying that humans are special?

[cheezus]

14. yes, I am

[jukes]

29. wrong again

cheezus. Fuck, there's 1 in every thread.

in what way are humans "special" or more precious than other animals?

i'd not hesitate 1 second before lighting this insane motherfucker up.


i'm beginning to sense a little molestation in someone's past; & i'm not talking about the scumbag in the article.

[cheezus]

32. wait, wrong about what?

one of what in every thred?

light which insane motherfucker up?

whose past are you sensing mosestation in?

/your post confused me

[jukes]

48. i don't find that at all surprising

i advocate brutal death for animal abusers. is that clear?

i wd kill unmercifully to protect my animals. is that clear?

apologists tend to sympathize w/ perpetrators for a reason.

[cheezus]

47. humans are "special" in many many ways

that you even had to ask says something

cognicance, ability to reason, ability to invent, ability to communicate ideas to others etc etc

the "animals are completely equal to humans and should have all the same rights" extreme is no less moronic than the "god wants humans to exploit everything god created, that's what it's there for" extreme


oh, and I'm not sure why you're saying I've been molested in the past. I haven't been, fortunately

[phantom power]

52. none of those qualities seem relevant to this particular crime

[jukes]

54. i didn't say you had been molested

read the language again. explore the syntax.

i don't feel animals shd not be exploited. that's silly. life eats life.

i *DO* believe that causing any animal pain for personal pleasure is sick, perverse, twisted, & disgusting.

i spent 20 years as a cop, sir. look up the word "recidivism". this sick fuck will hurt again, maybe your precious "humans" next time.

[cheezus]

57. oh, you're implying that I've abused animals?

well, I went fishing once. hooking the minnow on the hook is pretty gross so I decided I didn't like fishing and didn't go again.

[jukes]

61. interesting anecdote

& no doubt true.

i'll say again, the only creature worthy of any feelings other than complete contempt in this escapade is the cat.

[jukes]

65. people are "different" in many ways

doesn't make them special.

1 way that they are different is they are supposed to possess a moral sense. in it's absence, you're particular human has become very special indeed. he's become a merciless killer. a menace to society.

[Liberal Veteran]

51. Humans are special! After all, you don't see cats lighting people on fire.

...and throwing them out a window.

[JVS]

16. Duh

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

20. Chalk up another one for captain obvious

LOL.

Clearly there is no difference between a human and a frog.

[jukes]

38. *ANYONE*

that apologises for a malicious beast like this using the tawdry argument that the victims don't count because they are not human might want to seek some counseling. there's a buried viciousness in that argument that i find very disquieting.

[cheezus]

42. who is apologizing for this jackass?

it was a terrible thing to do.

by the way, this is the second time you've implied that I'm crazy.

[phantom power]

46. if you agree it was terrible, why don't you think he should be punished?

Out of curiosity, what punishment would you have sentenced him to?

[jukes]

59. and?

if you cannot see how brutal, ugly & horrific this crime was perhaps you shd spend some time in introspection.

i don't believe there is a punishment harsh enough for causing another creature to endure agony for personal amusement. i believe this walking abortion shd be euthanised so that he cannot hurt anything again.

[phantom power]

45. it's not obvious to me

This guy took an animal, just as capable of feeling pain and suffering as you or me, and killed it in the most painful ways possible.

Does that sit more easily with you, because a cat isn't a human?

[cheezus]

53. okay, here's a question for you then

I had tacos for lunch. Beef tacos. A cow was killed to provide the beef.
And you know what, that sits fine with me because the cow isn't a human.

of course, it was a corn taco shell. Let's not forget all of the wildlife that's had it's habitat destroyed (and ended up dying - probably though starvation, a horrible death - as a result).

Does that mean I should be serving a jail sentence?

[phantom power]

58. only if you first tortured the cow, for entertainment.

[jukes]

60. strawman argument

you didn't torture an animal, in the example you gave, for amusement. you ate life, life eats life.

he didn't eat the cat, he used it as a toy while it endured unescapable agony.

[Pithlet]

71. While I won't argue that humans and animals

are equal in importance, and I don't necessarily think someone who kills a cat should get the same punishment as someone who kills a human, I do not think that two years is necessarily too harsh. I think a case can be made for serious time for those who torture and kill animals.

[Branjor]

27. Uh..

It doesn't mean cats are human but it does mean that they are living creatures who can SUFFER just as humans can.

Human does NOT equal more important. There, a totally new concept for you.

[tandot]

10. Link between animal cruelty and violence against humans

http://www.arkonline.com/violence.html

Recently, more and more evidence suggests that animals can play a similar role with regards to social violence. Some of the most striking evidence for a link between animal cruelty and human violence lies in the case histories of many of the 20th century's most infamous criminals.

Mass-murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer killed neighbors' pets and impaled a dog's head on a stick.

Patrick Sherril, who murdered 14 co-workers and then killed himself, stole pets, then tied them up and allowed his own dog to mutilate them.

David Berkowitz, the so-called "Son of Sam," shot his neighbor's labrador retriever.

Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler," shot arrows into boxes of trapped cats and dogs.

Brenda Spencer, who fired 40 shots into a crowd of children, murdering 2 and wounding 9, had a history of setting the tails of neighborhood cats and dogs on fire.

Edmund Emil Kemper III, who murdered his mother and 7 other women, used to abuse cats and dogs.

Carol Edmund Cole, who murdered 35 people, admitted that his first violent act was strangling a puppy.

Richard Allen Davis, kidnapper and murderer, doused cats with gasoline and set them on fire.

Studies of prison inmates reveal that as many as 75% of violent offenders had early records of animal cruelty. There is also a high correlation between family violence and animal cruelty. A study in 1983 of New Jersey families referred to youth and family services for reasons of child abuse reported that 88% of cases had at least one member of the household who physically abused animals. An English researcher found that 83% of families reported for animal abuse also had children listed at high risk of abuse or neglect.

[CO Liberal]

18. Dubya Used to Blow Up Frogs With Firecrackers

I believe I've made the case......

[jukes]

40. absolutely true

3 symptoms of a sociopath:

1. early incidence of bedwetting
2. history of cruelty to animals
3. pyromania.




i detect the odor of urine & smoke in some of these posts.

[tandot]

56. It frightens me how many folks think it is not a big deal

:scared:

[EstimatedProphet]

72. I think what this represents is a need to be cruel as a form of dominance

so the person who would need to be cruel starts out with animals, likely because it's much easier to get away with it. As they either become more confident in their cruelty, or find that they need more targets or difficult targets, they move on to people.
And, I would say the sentence it justified.

[allalone]

78. gwb

blew up frogs and shot them with bb guns. hmmm

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

22. For sadistic behavior? I don't think so

[jukes]

25. think about what you're saying

animals feel pain, as vividly as you do.

i wd kill this animal, if he came after my cats. & i wd *NOT* be gentle.

[cheezus]

39. I know exactly what I'm saying

I don't doubt that poor kitty felt pain. That's not the point. I'm saying that I think it's WRONG to take a human's freedom for two years because of this.

[jukes]

44. i disagree

this is an emotional accident loose on our streets. may he never taste daylight again. i hope he gets liver-shanked in the joint.

this is an insane act. the brutality of wantonly burning a helpless creature disgusts me.

sympathy for this human-wreck disgusts me.

i repeat, if he came at my cats i'd ignite this prickless piece of shit in a tick.

[ronnykmarshall]

50. To hell with his two years of freedom.

What about the people that had to witness that? I know for I one, I'd never be that same if I had to witness a cat running into my house on fire.

This "man" is sub-human as far as I'm concerned.

I couldn't give a flying rats ass about his lack of "freedom".

[ronnykmarshall]

43. He set the cat on fire

and threw it off a second story balcony. The cat was STILL ALIVE when it hit the ground and ran into another house. The people rushed the cat to vet to try and save it. The last hours of this cats life was fear and pain.

Oh, but it's just a cat.

That fucker deserves the two years in prison.

[tandot]

7. That is how Jeffrey Dahmer started out

...and we all know how it ended.

<snip>
Culligan, a father of two, pleaded guilty in June to arson and cruelty to animals. He admitted spraying the 9-month-old cat, "Chica," with lighter fluid, igniting the fluid with a match and throwing the burning animal off a second-story balcony.

The cat, its fur ablaze, ran blindly into the screen door of an adjacent apartment. The residents put out the fire and rushed the kitten to a veterinarian, but the animal could not be saved and had to be euthanized.
<snip>

Someone should do the same to him and then say "What is the big deal?"

[baldguy]

11. Its how duhbya started out, too.

He tortured frogs when he was a kid.

[tandot]

13. and now he is responsible for getting almost 1000 soldiers killed

and thousands of Iraqis...

I've never heard about that, though. Did he really?

[baldguy]

19. A Philosophy With Roots In Conservative Texas Soil

NYT, May 20, 2000: by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

snip

In addition to church groups, various civic organizations were also active, and one of the local rituals for children was the meetings with cookies and milk at the home of a nice old lady who represented the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The cookies were digested more thoroughly than the teachings.

''We were terrible to animals,'' recalled Mr. Throckmorton, laughing. A dip behind the Bush home turned into a small lake after a good rain, and thousands of frogs would come out.

''Everybody would get BB guns and shoot them,'' Mr. Throckmorton said. ''Or we'd put firecrackers in the frogs and throw them and blow them up.''

When he was not blowing up frogs, young George -- always restless and something of a natural leader -- would lead neighborhood children on daredevil expeditions around town, seeing how close they could come to breaking their necks. George also quickly acquired a colorful vocabulary.

''Georgie has grown to be a near-man, talks dirty once in a while and occasionally swears, aged 4 and a half,'' his father despaired in a letter to a friend in 1951. In another letter four years later, he lamented: ''Georgie aggravates the hell out of me at times.''

more

http://www.makethemaccountable.com/articles/A_Philosophy_With_Roots_in_Conservative_Texas_Soil.htm

[tandot]

24. How about this sentence:

"...would lead neighborhood children on daredevil expeditions around town, seeing how close they could come to breaking their necks..."

Not that I ever wish any harm on anyone (may he have a long and prosperous life)...but it would have changed history forever...

[baldguy]

28. Do you think Georgie has a Gaurdian Demon?

After all, it couldn't be an angel could it?

[tandot]

30. If it would have been an angel he/she probably would have said:

...this one will cause a lot of problems in his later years...maybe we should re-call him..."

So, it couldn't have been an angel. :evilgrin:

[atommom]

69. Eesh, I guess his psychopathic tendencies started early!

And he still aggravates the hell out of ME...

[Ann Arbor Dem]

17. I am sick

I wonder how that jerk treats his kids...

[miss_kitty]

21. "What's the big deal? Everyone has hurt cats or squirrels."

bring him to my place...'Mr. Zippo' and i will show this future serial killer just what 'the big deal' is...

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

34. Idea...

Any way we can tie the Cat-Burner to the GOP? Or maybe if we can find the cat's voting record, we can garner some sympathy votes in November (provided he/she is a dem). ; )

[ronnykmarshall]

26. Pic of the scumbag

Don't drop the soap, fuck face.

[bluestateguy]

31. Typical Angry White Male

One less vote for Bush in November.

[JVS]

33. Oh so cruelty to animals is bad, but celebrating assrape is ok?

[ronnykmarshall]

For this son of a bitch it is.

:nopity:

[Liberal Veteran]

41. Let's be realistic JVS...

People are just verbally letting off some anger they feel toward such wanton and unrepentent cruelty.

[jukes]

62. i'd prefer he got assraped

before being liver-shanked, yes. this thing isn't human; he's less human than his victim. i'm a little surprized @ your stance herein, JVS.

[Terran]

35. Heeey, he's got a purty mouth.

I think 23 months is just about right for this. Plenty of time to become some big MFer's b*tch and know some physical suffering of his own.

[tandot]

36. "Don't drop the soap, fuck face" ... *SNARF*

I bet his fellow cell-mates will be very welcoming to such a new and handsome face

[flamingyouth]

37. What's the big deal?

Most people who "hurt cats or squirrels" end up like the illustrious John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy or Gary Ridgway. :scared:

At least he's going to jail. I'd like to kick his ass, personally, but jail is good too.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

49. What a SICK sack of SHIT

When I was in high school, I was at a party. Some guys had found a kitten, very young one, and had tied a rock onto its paw. I saw them throw it into the in-ground pool (12 feet deep). I immediately dove in, contact lenses in and all, and swam to the bottom to get the kitten.

Fortunately I got it back up so fast, it was ok. A girlfriend of mine took it from me to take care of it and that's the only time I ever beat the crap out of someone--the guy who threw it in. The other guys were in on it and laughing, but I just zoomed in on him, because I saw him throw it.

I swear my anger toward him actually scared me, it scares me to think of it to this day. I just started pummeling him in a blind rage, I hardly knew what I was doing. He was so shocked he didn't fight back, but after a bit of shock, other people pulled me off him. Not before I got a swift kick in his genitals, though.

I'm not proud of that, but my God. A defenseless kitten. What kind of sick shit is that?

That story burned me up.

[ronnykmarshall]

55. Good for you.

Blind rage or not, you did a great thing. and beating the shit out of that guy is the icing on the cake.

:toast:

[jukes]

63. you have my respect, M/S

sicko had it coming.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

64. To both you and ronny

when I was growing up, my stepdad had a MAJOR weak spot for animals. We got a sort of a reputation for taking in animals no one wanted and we'd get them dumped on our doorstep all the time. So we ran a sort of rescue/foster/placement agency out of our house and kept all the ones we could. I swear we had 57 dogs in my lifetime and about as many cats. But we took really good care of all of them. One month he told us our vet bills and cat and dog food and litter totalled $800 (and this was the late 70s).

He always told us, "Domestic animals are at our mercy, which means we have a HUGE responsibility to take care of them. They DEPEND on us and the worst thing we could do is turn our backs on them."

I never forgot those words. I've taught my daughter the same thing. In fact, in this house, the animals get fed BEFORE the humans. Sorry, but they can't fend for themselves, so they get their dinner first.

[jukes]

66. your father, & you

are deserving of huge respect for your contributions. mean that most sincerely.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

68. Aw shucks

now you're gonna make me blush. YOU do fantastic work with the ferals. And I mean that most sincerely.

Actually me and this other guy are trying to put together a cat rescue group that would work in Ft. Worth. He's pretty experienced with this (did it in another city) and I want to help him.

So we'll see how that goes.

Thanks!

[ronnykmarshall]

81. Go ahead and blush baby.

You earned it.

Tonight I had to take one of cats to the vet. I'm worried about him, but I know that he's gonna be fine.

What hurts me and worries me so much is that the same vet that we take our cats to is the same place where my beloved Mickey died last year. I'll never forget that. As much as these loving people that work there treated and still do treat us with compassion and respect, that place is where my "son" left my life.

Cats, dogs, birds, whatever pet you have are loving feeling creatures. This MONSTER that killed that little cat does not deserve ANY sympathy for his term that he faces.

Some of these posters that have got a stick up their asses about how this worthless sack of shit might lose two years of freedom DO NOT GET IT!

You are a person a compassion and love. I take my hat off to you.

You fucking rock!

[enigmatic]

67. i've never met a person who tortured animals for fun that ...

didn't turn out to be a sadistic f*ck to humans, too..

[achtung_circus]

70. One sick fuck

"When he pleaded guilty, Culligan, through his lawyer, offered to do community service at an animal shelter to atone for his action"

When we provide sentencing recommendations that include community we specify that service be in a situation not involving animals.

We don't let people like that into our shelter.

[EstimatedProphet]

73. I almost hate to say this, but...

I think the 2 year sentence is just-this guy is a sick fuck. BUT:
What would be more just is some serious psychological treatment for him, because all that will happen in jail is that his sick tendencies will be reinforced. As for wanting him to get the same treatment, what good would it do? He wouldn't get why anyway, and isn't that just as cruel as what he did?

[TheTrendIsDead]

74. one thing to learn from this...........

..... is don't take anything that cheezus say's again seriously.

[allalone]

80. that's for sure

[BlueJazz]

75. Good Grief People!..What's the big deal??

I mean..it was a Republican Cat.
.
.
.
.
.
(allll-right..it upset me also..)

[allalone]

76. yeah humans are special all right

they are the only creatures on earth that would do anything as vicious and depraved as this. My version of hell is that whatever you did is done to you for eternity.

[shanti]

77. ughhhh

i'd like to get him a small room with a baseball bat :grr:

[Deja Q]

79. Hey Culligan man, if you want to be cruel, do this instead:

Become a corporate CEO and hurt your fellow man.