Sheesh! I'm glad to report that people are supposedly getting sentences of hard time for animal cruelty out here - more than likely because of the link between animal abuse and child abuse, etc. You all have probaly heard about the case of Danielle VanDam - the little girl who was kidnapped, probably tortured, and murdered? I believe the increase in crimes of this nature has motivated the hard line against animal abusers in these parts. I haven't checked the news much the past few months so I can't state for a fact that prosecution is being carried out. It would seem to me that animal abuse should be viewed as criminal in itself, never mind where it leads to.