Other Turtle Discussion :: When you thought china town was bad enough...

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Teenager gets jail for turtle burning
By Andrea Domaskin, The Forum
Published Tuesday, September 19, 2006

A Hawley, Minn., teen will spend time in jail for his role in burning a snapping turtle.

Joel Charles Ross, 18, was sentenced Monday in Clay County District Court to a combination of up to 10 days in jail, community service and fines.

He pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty for an incident that captured the attention of online viewers and animal rights activists around the world.

In late May, Ross and two juveniles videotaped themselves dousing a snapping turtle with gasoline and lighting it on fire twice.

They were discovered after someone sent Hawley police an e-mail with a link to the video.

Fisher asked Judge Michael Kirk to impose fines and community service but not jail time, saying Ross and his family had suffered enough.

Ross told Kirk he feels bad for his actions and knows they were wrong. He said his family has been affected, including a brother serving in Iraq.

“He’s upset and probably thinks a lot less of me right now,” Ross said.

Ross said he had planned to sign up for the National Guard to do military police work. “Now I can’t, because of this,” he said.

Kirk said he wanted to see more empathy from Ross toward the animal. He sentenced Kirk to 90 days in jail, with 80 days suspended for two years and a $1,000 fine with $500 suspended for two years.

Ross is to serve five days in jail next month during a break from high school. If he completes 50 hours of community service by Dec. 15, he won’t have to serve the remaining five days over the holiday break.

He may also do community service to reduce $400 from his fine.

Ross was also sentenced to six months of supervised probation and ordered to take part in a restorative justice program.

Hawley city prosecutor Kevin Miller said he was comfortable with the sentence.

“It wasn’t too much different than what we had asked for,” Miller said.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Andrea Domaskin at (701) 241-5556


Its horrible what people do these days .If i was the judge id give him the death penalty.

[pumpkinsherbet]

can we put him in the stocks and burn him too?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I dont see why they dont give people the death penalty or life sentence when they kill an animal,it was murder...

[pumpkinsherbet]

i'm not a death penalty advocate. it's not our place to decide who lives or dies. but i definitely think animal cruelty is among those crimes that doesn't have proper repercussions.

[Andrew7769]

yea the kid is dumb but i dont think it would be right to kill him.....

[JadePLightning]

That is absolutly cruel, it disgusts me what most people will do these days. Though I think the death penalty is extreme for a sentence, in my opinion they still got off too easy.

[DaddySkittles]

That is so cruel and disgusting how could they do that. Like think of it. Why would you douse a fricken turtle with gasoline and light it! Thats jsut sad.

[Ozzyy]

i think any good punish ment is a good wack in the croth every hour every day for 1 year... thatl learn him

[pumpkinsherbet]

absotively!

[Pizza]

Ahahaha, at that rate, the person would lose their genitals from excessive damage, .

I also think that the death penalty would be too extreme, as pumpkinsherbet said, but there needs to be stricter laws on animal cruelty, that person got off too light, and did not seem genuine in court.

A similar animal cruelty incident happened half a year ago in a small town near my city, regarding a few teens taping up their dog, beating it, then tied it up to the back of their car, and dragged it across town. The animal didn't make it, and the scenes on the news was fairly graphic. The bastards got off easy with a fine and a few days of jail, since they were under 18 (but nearly there), but it stirred up some big attention all around.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I could say something about that Joel Ross idiot, but it wouldn't be printable.

[JadePLightning]

Ahahaha, at that rate, the person would lose their genitals from excessive damage, .

I also think that the death penalty would be too extreme, as pumpkinsherbet said, but there needs to be stricter laws on animal cruelty, that person got off too light, and did not seem genuine in court.

A similar animal cruelty incident happened half a year ago in a small town near my city, regarding a few teens taping up their dog, beating it, then tied it up to the back of their car, and dragged it across town. The animal didn't make it, and the scenes on the news was fairly graphic. The bastards got off easy with a fine and a few days of jail, since they were under 18 (but nearly there), but it stirred up some big attention all around.

Again, getting off too easily. It really tears at me how some people treat animals like emotionless beings, like as if they can't feel pain or anything.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I dont think the death penalty would be too extreme for him,in my opinion i think it would be just perfect.He commited murder,people just dont see it that way because it wasnt a human being that he killed.Joel Ross was 18,no he wasnt your typical 12 year old kid who throws rocks at turtles basking near the creek,but he was 18.

He was old enough to know right from wrong,i bet you he had a good laugh with all his buddys as he was lighting that poor animal on fire,laughing and pointing,cracking jokes.He didnt have mercy for the animal,so why should we have mercy for him?

It pisses me off how after all that he practicly crys to the judge "please,please dont put me in jail..ill be good i promise *tear* i suffered enough"..Pshh,come on,seriously.That kid deserves a much worse punishment than what they gave him,and even if its not a death penalty,life in my prison would be pretty sweet.

[Andrew7769]

so if you made 1 mistake you would have absolutely no problem with going to jail for the rest of your life or even being killed? think about that kid sitting in prison when he is 70 for somthing he did when he was 18 come on

[pumpkinsherbet]

I dont think the death penalty would be too extreme for him,in my opinion i think it would be just perfect...
He didnt have mercy for the animal,so why should we have mercy for him?

it's nothing to do with mercy, it's the plain and simple fact that it's not our place to decide who lives or dies. unless you're in a him-or-me situation, bringing harm or death to a person regardless of the slight serves no purpose but to perpetuate the cycle and makes you no better than them.

as it were, i agree it's more than mischief. whether he was torturing the next door neighbour, or an innocent animal is irrelevant. it's psychotic behaviour and should be treated as such.