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A max sentence driven by a concern for (four-legged) victims

By Douglas A. Berman

I always wonder if the various folks who debate victims' rights at sentencing change their views when the victims are animals rather than people.  In any event, this local story, headlined "Animal abuse draws prison: Glen Burnie woman sentenced to 3 years for mistreating dogs," highlights that at least one state judge is quite attentive to four-legged victims at sentencing. Here are details:Kelly Lynn Schreck, the woman behind what an Anne Arundel County judge called yesterday the worst animal abuse case he had ever seen, had simply planned to breed Great Danes. But she struggled to care for her growing collection of dogs amid increasing marital problems, her lawyer said yesterday in county Circuit Court, which was borne out by neighbors' complaints and animal control officers' grisly discovery in her Glen Burnie home: five dead, emaciated dogs and four others who were starving in cages, their bones protruding...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on May 29, 2008 (boomark / email).