Teen Tortures Groundhog and baby groundhog NJ

[Maryellen]

On February 24, Middletown High School student Christopher Welch pleaded guilty to fourth-degree animal cruelty for torturing to death a mother groundhog and her baby. After shooting and killing the baby groundhog with a paintball gun, Welch and a juvenile accomplice then turned their gun on the mother groundhog, shot her, dragged her into the woods, and set her on fire.Welch is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, May 5, in front of Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Patricia Del Bueno Cleary. In the past, Judge Cleary has demonstrated a particular lack of concern for animal abuse cases, including a recent case in which she granted probation to a man who brutally bludgeoned to death his neighbor's dog.What You Can DoIn order to prevent a similar, regrettable outcome in this case, please take just a couple of minutes to send a letter to Judge Cleary urging her to impose stiff sentencing for Christopher Welch, including jail time, psychological counseling, and a ban on contact with animals.Please send your letters to arrive no later than May 4 to:The Honorable Patricia Del Bueno ClearyJudge, Monmouth County Superior Court 71 Monument ParkP.O. Box 1266Freehold, NJ 07728-1266Fax: (732) 677-4358Even a short, two- or three-sentence letter expressing your concern about the case could help sway Judge Cleary's mind.Points to make in your letters:* Animal abuse is a crime of violence. Experts agree that it is the nature of the abuse—not the identity of the victim—that is most important in determining an abuser's threat to society.* Prisons are full of violent offenders who started by killing and torturing animals. Strict intervention is needed now as a rehabilitative measure to prevent Welch's violence from spreading to future possible victims—both people and animals.Thank you for taking action to help animals.Sincerely,Wayne PacellePresident and CEOThe Humane Society of the United States

[cheekymunkee]

Stupid smurfing little bastard

[a-bull]

What on earth is wrong with these kids these days???!!!

Parents need to get on the stick! Something is very wrong with kids in our society these days!!

[Asta]

Stupid smurfing little bastard

I can only second that and add some fistshaking!

Åsa

[Marinepits]

What on earth is wrong with these kids these days???!!!

Parents need to get on the stick! Something is very wrong with kids in our society these days!!

What, are you kidding? No, it's the violent video games and the violence on tv causing the problem, certainly not the lack of parental discipline.

[a-bull]

What on earth is wrong with these kids these days???!!!

Parents need to get on the stick! Something is very wrong with kids in our society these days!!

What, are you kidding? No, it's the violent video games and the violence on tv causing the problem, certainly not the lack of parental discipline.

yeah, right . . . of course it has nothing to do with unrestricted/unsupervised children and parents who can't say "no."

[Hoyden]

What on earth is wrong with these kids these days???!!!

Parents need to get on the stick! Something is very wrong with kids in our society these days!!

What, are you kidding? No, it's the violent video games and the violence on tv causing the problem, certainly not the lack of parental discipline.

It's parents that are too afraid to spank or ground their kids. Or they are too busy or just don't care.

My kids know that I can and I will spank them and I can make their life hell if they don't behave and do their chores. I have no problem taking toys, CD players, musical instruments or anything else they own from them as a form of punishment.

My oldest daughter couldn't remember to spray leave-in conditioner in her room so I wouldn't slip in the bathroom. I made her scrub the ENTIRE bathroom floor and tiled portion of the walls with a toothbrush after I fell and got hurt. She hasn't forgotten again!

[a-bull]

Well, I didn't spank my kids and they aren't out torturing animals--but spanking is a whole other topic. I know plenty of people believe in it still, but I just don't see what lesson kids learn from being hit. I'd never hit my dogs, so I certainly would never hit my children.

I think supervision, boundaries and consequences work, but seems people just can't be bothered lately . . . It's sad . . .

[Romanwild]

Those kids need some real help! Hopefully they will get some.

[Hoyden]

Well, I didn't spank my kids and they aren't out torturing animals--but spanking is a whole other topic. I know plenty of people believe in it still, but I just don't see what lesson kids learn from being hit. I'd never hit my dogs, so I certainly would never hit my children.

I think supervision, boundaries and consequences work, but seems people just can't be bothered lately . . . It's sad . . .

Fortunately, with my kids, KNOWING that we will not hesitate to spank them if they need it is enough.

I would never spank my dogs.

[cheekymunkee]

Well, I didn't spank my kids and they aren't out torturing animals--but spanking is a whole other topic. I know plenty of people believe in it still, but I just don't see what lesson kids learn from being hit. I'd never hit my dogs, so I certainly would never hit my children.

I think supervision, boundaries and consequences work, but seems people just can't be bothered lately . . . It's sad . . .

Fortunately, with my kids, KNOWING that we will not hesitate to spank them if they need it is enough.

I would never spank my dogs.

Exactly. I spanked my daughter a total of two times in 24 years. Not too bad. Some kids need to be spanked, not all of them & not all of the time.

[a-bull]

Well, I didn't spank my kids and they aren't out torturing animals--but spanking is a whole other topic. I know plenty of people believe in it still, but I just don't see what lesson kids learn from being hit. I'd never hit my dogs, so I certainly would never hit my children.

I think supervision, boundaries and consequences work, but seems people just can't be bothered lately . . . It's sad . . .

Fortunately, with my kids, KNOWING that we will not hesitate to spank them if they need it is enough.

I would never spank my dogs.

. . . nix on the dog, right? I certainly agree with that.

I just don't think hitting as a means of solving problems or delivering consequences is ever a good lesson . . . especially for children, who are learning to problem solve.

I'd never hit an adult as a consequence, why would I hit an innocent child that I love?? Just my opinion . . .

[dogcrazyjen]

Spanking is just like a choke chain or e-collar. They each have their places, with certain dogs/kids and owners/parents. Spanking is a tool, nothing more or less. Not appropriate for everyone, but not evil in and of itself.

I have never used an e-collar, and I have only once used a choke chain on my dogs.

I have never spanked my kids, I have slapped thier hands once or twice for things like touching stoves, where you cannot afford to let them make thier own mistakes. We used time outs, losing privilages. My kids rarely pushed the limits, they have always been good kids. When I was doing child care for 8 years, I only once spanked a child, and that was when he put my infant in danger during a temper tantrum.

I did make a child eat a sock once.

He stuffed a sock in his brother's mouth, so as a punishment I made him take off his sock and stuff it in his own mouth. The kids was a spoiled privileged brat, reminded me of a rich frat rugby player. He never did THAT again. I told him his punishment for torturing his brother was to have the same exact thing happen to him. He was much nicer after that. Nothing like a little forced empathy!

And yes, his mother knew about it. She said thank God someone was doing something about it.

Back to the topic, I don't like woodchucks, but damn, that is un-called for. That boy needs to get serious mental help, all indicators show kids who torture animals usually go on to humans.

[Hoyden]

Well, I didn't spank my kids and they aren't out torturing animals--but spanking is a whole other topic. I know plenty of people believe in it still, but I just don't see what lesson kids learn from being hit. I'd never hit my dogs, so I certainly would never hit my children.

I think supervision, boundaries and consequences work, but seems people just can't be bothered lately . . . It's sad . . .

Fortunately, with my kids, KNOWING that we will not hesitate to spank them if they need it is enough.

I would never spank my dogs.

. . . nix on the dog, right? I certainly agree with that.

I just don't think hitting as a means of solving problems or delivering consequences is ever a good lesson . . . especially for children, who are learning to problem solve.

I'd never hit an adult as a consequence, why would I hit an innocent child that I love?? Just my opinion . . .

It's not so much the spanking that gets the message through, but the process that resolves the problem.

My kids are sent to their rooms to think about WHY they earned the spanking and after we've let them think it through, then they are spanked.

I clearly remember that it wasn't the spanking that was bad, it was the waiting and thinking about what I did that was the worst.

[a-bull]

So if the "process" resolves the problem, and the process involves thinking things through, why end with a spanking?? Gosh, the delayed spanking seems even more arbitrary to me than a spanking at the time of the 'infraction.'

Some people confuse discipline with punishment. Discipline just helps kids to learn to solve problems and teaches them how their behavior effects others. I think punishment---hitting---just teaches the wrong problem solving skills, if any, and creates fear and mistrust.

And yes, I have kids---I have also taught and worked in Juvenile Probation and Adult Probation.

[a-bull]

Oh . . . and regarding the poor groundhog, if anyone is particularly interested in juvenile issues surrounding animal abuse, links to adult crimes, childhood abuse, etc., the "Juvenile Justice Bulletin" from September of 2001 has a great article complete with graphs, statistics, etc. The United States Department of Justice puts it out . . .

[Emi]

I wish I hadn't of read that ... people are just sick now a days


I was spanked 1 time when I was a child , and my father cried just as hard as I did , and that was back in 1963 or so , my parents didn't believe in spanking back then either, a corner or a chair worked just as well ...

My Grand-father beat his children with a like old time shaving strap , so my father did not believe in spanking ...

I think with 4 kids , only 2 of us got spanked , Paul got spanked once when he shot Patty in the eye with a bb gun accidently...

And I was the OOOOOOOPPPPPPSSSS baby of the family, my oldest sister Jane is 30 years older then me, Paul is 18, and Patty is 16 years older then me, my parents basically had 3 different families when times were all changed and they still didn't believe in spanking...

But some times there is a difference between spanking and beating...

Children just do not listen to the parents now a days NO matter what some parents try ...

I dont care what it was , that animal did not deseve that ...no person, animal or any thing deserved to be abused ...

[msvette2u]

When I lived in Alaska there was this messed up family that lived up there. The pre-teen boy took my beloved fluffy black and white kitty and tortured it by drowning it, but didn't do it quickly, rather in stages.
Then he took it to the woods and nailed it by it's paws to a tree. Then he tied a rope around the cats neck, tying it to the tree.
I wasn't allowed to go in the woods to see it but my daughter and her friend saw it and alerted her friends' mom.
I still get teary when I think of it, it's been 15 years or so now.
My poor kitty didn't deserve it either.

The "triad" that serial killers have in common - fire setting, bed-wetting and cruelty to animals.
Those kids are monsters - they need to be locked up forever.

[Purple]

I just sit on my kids and make them eat grass. After we are done, I put them in the little closet under the steps, with a piece of bread and some water. After a few days, when I'm good and ready, I'll let them out....

[luvmyangels]

OMG!! That is so horrible.