On Thursday, June 8th, a North Pole, Alaskan woman convicted of animal cruelty was given a one-year suspended sentence , one year probation with the condition she not be allowed to own any animal or be around any animal without supervision. April Arlene Gutierrez, 49, did not seek out help for her injured dog in June 2015 when her two-year old dachshund, Shebba, was hit by a car leaving the small dog with two broken legs – left hind leg and right front leg.
Shebba was forced to endure pain and suffering without relief for a month. The pup tried to ease her pain by chewing part of her back foot off. It was at this time that Gutierrez and a friend took Shebba to Loving Companions Animal Rescue who immediately took the pup to a veterinarian ( Animal House Veterinary Clinic.) The extent of Shebba’s injuries was something that you’d see in a horror movie. Simply stated, gory and disturbing abuse. The back leg was maggot-infested with bones and tendons exposed leading to a gangrenous foot. Shebba chewed so much of her foot that is was dangling and barely attached leading to amputation of it. Her genitals were also infested with maggots. Shebba was also pregnant but the puppies had died two days prior to seeing a vet for the first time.
Lucy aka Shebba
photo/Douge family
Despite the atrocious and egregious abuse, Gutierrez was only charged with a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor!!!! This isn’t an isolated incident in the United States where animal abuse is not treated as the serious and violent crime that it is. When people hear animal abuse is a felony in all 50 states, it is extremely misleading! The punishment for animal abuse does not fit the crime of hurting or killing an animal. Rarely is anyone charged with a felony. Even when people are charged with animal abuse, most receive probation and a small pittance of a fine.
Why is animal abuse not treated like the violent crime that it is? Why aren’t animal abusers charged with a felony crime and harsher sentences and stiffer fines despite animal abuse being a felony in all 50 states? With the current weak penalties for animal cruelty, what reason do people have to be deterred from inflicting abuse upon an animal?
Alaska’s legislature passed a bill in 2016 to reduce prison populations and recidivism rates by decreasing the penalties for a variety of crimes including animal abuse. This means Gutierrez couldn’t be charged with a felony regardless of what she had done to Shebba. She received the maximum possible period of suspended incarceration as part of her plea. How does this punishment fit the crime and deter anyone from inflicting abuse upon an animal in the future? It clearly doesn’t.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund put out their yearly report earlier this year and Alaska was ranked in the bottom tier when it comes to laws protecting animals. But, Alaska is not alone. The ALDF stated “there aren’t enough laws (in the nation) and the ones on the books are simply not strong enough.” That says it all.
When will abuse against animals be treated as the violent crime it is? I think the answer lies when animals are no longer considered property but sentient beings who have real emotions and have the ability to suffer real pain as humans do. Pets are considered to be objects such as your furniture or vehicle. A dog breathes, eats, sleeps, runs, play, cries, is happy, is sad – an object is obviously incapable of this.
Crimes against animals must also be considered as an act of violence in which an offender uses or threatens force upon a victim which is the definition used for a crime of violence against a human. As it stands right now, any act of cruelty against an animal is not technically considered a violent crime and the punishment is minor. Violent crimes are usually punished more severely which is what needs to happen to animal abusers if we’re going to end this vicious cycle of animal cruelty.
In Gutierrez’s case, the state “would have liked to secure a sentence involving a period of actual incarceration for her conduct…… even if she would have been charged with felony level animal cruelty, a court could not impose anything but suspended time for the typical offender due to their new law.”
Shebba is now Lucy and was adopted by the Douge family. She has recovered but has a fear of cars and she has to be the only dog in the household.
Brody, my tripawd, lost his leg because his former owner abused him. Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein
My dog, Brody, is a clear example of animal cruelty, as he, too, lost a leg because he never received the veterinarian care after his former owner broke it on purpose. Brody’s leg dangled for at least a month before being saved by Hillside SPCA. They were unable to save his right front leg. Too much time had passed to properly heal. Brody has adjusted extremely well to life on three legs. However, as time goes by my husband and I have noticed how he becomes scared at different things. It’s as if he suppressed a lot of his fears and finally feels relaxed to share those fears with us.
This past weekend Brody and I were playing (he LOVES to play!) and I pretended to put his leg in my mouth. Brody freaked out! He ran away from me. He stared me down. It was as if he was saying, don’t hurt me. The look in his eyes was of bewilderment. We have cemented our trust with Brody by taking our time and reassuring him he will never be abused again. It took time and patience on both sides.
Brody was abused very badly. He had to have a leg amputated after suffering for over a month without any vet care.
But, we can see there are times that he must remember what the previous person did to him through his fearful actions. All we do is reassure him and don’t repeat the behavior that elicited such a reaction.
Brody’s accuser never faced jail time. That’s outrageous considering he put Brody through unspeakable pain for over a month. Brody was also given ibuprofen to lessen his pain which could’ve killed him. After being saved, blood work was completed to see if his liver was affected by the otc medicine. It wasn’t! Ironically, the person wanted Brody back after his leg was amputated! Not in my lifetime!
The laws need to change for animal cruelty in our nation. We must first recognize our pets as sentient beings and treat these crimes as violent crimes punishable by serious and harsher jail time and high fines! Only then will we start to see animal abuse diminish.
Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and is an unabashed animal advocate . Her love for animals is what drives her to promote awareness of the many issues facing animals. She adores her tripawd, Brody! She hosts the show, ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.” If you’d like Tina to talk to your group or have a story, please email her at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com. Like https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows, articles, and podcasts you may have missed!
Brody has been a blessing to our household. I never had a dog that wants to be involved in everything going on around him. He is full of life despite almost losing it. My anger towards abuse is simple. Eye for an eye, leg for a leg! Give me ten minutes in a locked room alone with Brody’s abuser and I guarantee I will show up for work the next day. And if people think these animals forget over time they are sadly mistaken. Dogs are more forgiving than people, but they don’t forget! And the slightest thing can trigger back his nightmares. But with patience and care we have one of the most inquisitive and loyal dogs we have had the pleasure of having as part of our family.
Ed, You’re right about Brody! He loves and lives life to the fullest! Perhaps because he was kept from living in his former “life/home.” And I agree they don’t forget but they are more forgiving than people. I have forgiven the man who abused our Brody. I had to. I didn’t want to walk around with all that anger eating at me. I didn’t want to waste any more time on a person who could abuse an innocent dog like Brody. Brody paid the price by losing a leg because this “man” couldn’t control his anger. But, I let it go. I hope you’re able to do the same. I understand your anger because we both lived this ordeal with Brody. We know he is showing more fear now than ever over simple things. We need to concentrate on him and making sure he is okay.
He certainly is one of the most inquisitive dogs we’ve ever had. And he is loyal, isn’t he? He loves us both equally. He makes us laugh so hard! We can’t get over how intelligent this large dog in a small body is! He is a blast! I’m grateful we have him. I’m so glad he adopted us to be his “parents.” I couldn’t be a prouder mom!
Ed, I agree with Tina. Keeping your anger bottled up inside isn’t doing you any good. An eye for an eye is from biblical times. Use your anger for positivity and for Brody. He is who matters. He needs you. Hurting the other man won’t help Brody. Peace, dude.
Hell to yeah! The animal protection laws are a joke. You can murder, torture an animal and walk away from it with probation and have to pay a small fine. What a freaking joke!
I can see why Alaska is in the bottom tier. Instead of moving forward with better laws, they’re making it easier to abuse animals. How asinine is that? What were they thinking? Animal abuse is linked to violence against people. Their lawmakers made a huge mistake, This woman got away with some very bad animal cruelty. Nothing will happen to her. When her probation is over, she gets to have an animal. Crazy!
“The laws need to change for animal cruelty in our nation. We must first recognize our pets as sentient beings and treat these crimes as violent crimes punishable by serious and harsher jail time and high fines! Only then will we start to see animal abuse diminish.”
Very good article, Tina. What you’ve written is dead on! Animals are sentient beings and the law needs to recognize this. Without it, the laws won’t change much. We also must address how animal abuse is violence. If we can get the courts to acknowledge this, we could make some great strides in our laws against animal abuse. Sadly, it takes forever now to get laws changed in each state. This would have to be a universal fact forcing courts to recognize it. Meanwhile, animals suffer while the abusers go free. I hate our laws.
Perfectly stated and written.
Pennsylvania has a new law for animal abusers. Won’t be effective if it’s not enforced. Still not strong enough.
it’s stronger but the penalties are harsh enough. Very few people ever go to jail for animal cruelty and if they do, it’s a short sentence. Until we punish people the way we do when they hurt or kill humans, the laws won’t ever be strong enough.
The laws are a joke in the U.S.
In light of what’s happening with the pit bull bites and deaths people need to be charged with more serious animal abuse charges.
Libre’s Law went into effect today which has made the penalties harsher for animal cruelty in Pennsylvania. Yay!