This is AWFUL!! "Man to stand trial for abusing, torturing, killing cat"

This is a forum to discuss legislation and legal matters pertaining to the rights and welfare of cats. Please remember to counter ideas and opinions with which you don't agree with friendly and helpful advice and responses.

Merriweather

287282

Purred: Thu Apr 17, '08 7:28pm PST


	A Westland, Mich., man charged with sexually abusing, torturing and killing a cat will stand trial in Wayne County Circuit Court on May 1. He faces more than 15 years in prison if convicted. Todd Treviso, 18, was detained on a $50,000 cash bond after his arraignment April 9 for torturing, sexually abusing and killing a male cat, Magic, in the early morning of April 4. Full story is here (very graphic, not for the faint-hearted): http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/NEWS02/80 416061 Write to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and tell her to get this guy! You can email her by going here: http://www.waynecounty.com/prosecutor/Default.asp Edited by moderator Thu Apr 17, '08 7:48pm PST

my posts | my page | my family's posts | gift me | become friends

Edited by forums moderator

Lola

Proud mother of- the Fab Four!

Purred: Thu Apr 17, '08 8:04pm PST


	I couldn't find your link with the URL provided, but did find it by Googling "Man to stand trial for abusing, torturing, killing cat". Almost as sick as the incident itself were the sometimes rather lighthearted reader comments. BTW, this was a cat in a suburban community that got picked up by a "nice" family that thought it was a stray. The perp was a homeless wannabe serial killer they also were "nice" enough to give a home to. Yet another reason to keep your furbabies inside, always.

[notify]

Dulci (In- Loving- Memory - you

Kitty's final- rest in a grove- of trees

Purred: Fri Apr 18, '08 2:42pm PST


	though i am very sad for this cat, i'm more frightened of what this man would do in the future. When will we fully begin to understand that people who enjoy making others suffer, get bored of the "power" over the weak - like animals, and move on to children, other people... i'm sorry to be so oen minded, but people like this need to be locked up where they can never get a key.

[notify]

Spike

Tubby tabby- love!

Purred: Fri Apr 18, '08 8:18pm PST


	Yes, indeed, that was a point made by the police in the article. As everyone who reads crime fiction probably already knows by now, serial killers tend to follow the same profile of bedwetting while children, and then graduating to arson and torture/abuse/murder of animals, and then moving on to humans. There was a post on another forum called "I saved a life!" (it was a medical, not a legal, issue), and that could very well be the case for Magic, as well. HOWEVER, that does not mean that Magic's death was horrifying and meaningless. And yes, we can't imagine that someone like this perp is going to be rehabilitated by just a few months/years in either a prison or a mental hospital. Worse, there are MORE idiots like him out there! Here in our country a twenty-something loser tortured and killed a cat, live, on the Internet. The only good (?) thing to come out of this incident was that he got arrested and sent to jail (a first for this country), and animal protection groups lobbied for stronger laws, to some effect. But why does it have to take horrific incidents like this to make people aware of animal abuse and make them want to do something about it?

[notify]

Miss Tiny- Burr Burr

Love and adore.

Purred: Sat Apr 19, '08 2:29pm PST


	i grew up in this city. it makes me sick what hes done, and sick to think that he has probibly done that before. they need to toughen up the laws. if not for the animals, then for the people that sickos like this would prey on.

[notify]

Boxie Brown- Forever

Boxie B.- with a- goatee!!

Purred: Sat Apr 19, '08 5:34pm PST


	Here is a hotlink to THE STORY WARNING VERY GRAPHIC Here is a hotlink to THE PROSECUTOR Here is the prosecutor's address, please write this is a really disturbed human who needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, please tell Ms. Worthy this: Kym Worthy 1200 Frank Murphy Hall of Justice 1441 St. Antoine Detroit, MI 48226 Thank you Meriwether for bringing this to our attention so that we may take action.

[notify]

Beloved- Angel Amelia- loves HL!

I am finally- with my True- Love Bill....

Purred: Sat Apr 19, '08 9:45pm PST


	Thank you Boxie Brown. We'll be writing a letter.... again

[notify]

Spike

Tubby tabby- love!

Purred: Sat Apr 19, '08 11:13pm PST


	Egads--the reader comments have gotten even more cruel and crazy than when I first looked. It would appear that there are a lot more animal haters out there than one would even imagine in one's worst nightmare. Our Meowmy wonders how there can be so many Catster people who love cats and (and all other animals, one presumes), and yet there are human BEASTS out there who are drawn to an article about an incident like this and want to make sick, "humorous" comments about it. Not to mention the fact that the newspaper prints these letters--there ARE limits to the right to free speech. For example, I can't imagine that a newspaper would publish similar letters to the editor slamming certain ethnic/racial groups. Obviously, writing things like "Well, the cat SHOULDA got killed" is okay... Speaking as a cat, we can be pretty mean--we kill animals for food (and fun), we sometimes fight each other to the death over territory and mating disputes, we can take an irrational dislike to a fur-sibling in our house and be abusive to it, but all of this behavior has some kind of instinctual, self-preservational meaning behind it (although we're still trying to figure out why Harvey has to be so mean to Chibi...). Just one more reason why we cats secretly (or not so secretly) consider ourselves superior to humans.

[notify]

Beloved- Angel Amelia- loves HL!

I am finally- with my True- Love Bill....

Purred: Wed Apr 23, '08 9:12am PST


	Response to the e-mail we sent to prosecutor: Dear Ms. Ciattei, Thank you for your e-mail message about the cat case that we are prosecuting. Please rest assured that we understand you concerns, and that we take animal cruelty cases very seriously. Best, Maria C. Miller Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Director of Communications 1441 St. Antoine 12th Floor Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 224-5817 (Office) (313) 213--0457 (Cell)