Joseph Petcka Trial: Injustice for Animals

Yet again, justice for animals has been blocked by a person unwilling to accept the seriousness of animal abuse as one would domestic violence. The trail of Joseph Petcka ended in a mistrial. Mr. Petcka was accused of intentional animal abuse in the death of his ex-girl friend's cat. The Prosecution believed the defendant intentionally killed the cat because he was upset his girl friend broke up with him. The Defense maintained that Mr. Petcka acted in self-defense and was in fear of his life. If the cat in question was a 200 pound tiger I would understand his fear. However, the cat in question was a 7 pound orange tabby. The basics behind self-defense is using an act of defense equal to the attacking action. In other words, if a person takes a swing at you, you can use an equal action to defend yourself. The cat's lethal injuries included broken bones and facial bones. It was concluded that this poor animal was stomped to death. It is appalling that one lone juror would not accept the truth of intentional abuse in this case. I wonder if he would think the same if the cat was replaced by the ex-girl friend. This is just another example of people not willing to treat all life as we do human life. What a shame!