Atlanta Falcons and Animal Cruelty

For my animal cruelty and interpersonal violence class last week, we were assigned to find an on-line news account of a recent case (within the last three months) of cruelty to animals and draft a hypothetical letter to the District Attorney in the jurisdiction where the event occurred, giving detailed information about why you feel that it is important that this case be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, citing specifics from the week's readings.

I can't tell you just how proud I am to live in a state that continues to increase its number of animal cruelty cases.

In researching my case for this assignment, I looked specifically for Georgia cases, knowing of several currently in court that other rescue friends are watching in their areas. Instead, I found at the top of every search one involving an Atlanta Falcons football player. Since this is a case that will have constant media focus, this is the case I chose.

Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux is out of jail on a $2,300 bond after being charged with animal cruelty on a dog. A necropsy completed Tuesday [2/20] determined the dog died of blunt force injuries to the head sustained on Sunday [2/18]. Babineaux maintains he had nothing to do with the incident, but police say his account of what happened is inconsistent with the information about the dog's injuries provided by the animal hospital.

Since the details have not all been released, I cannot say what his motives might, though reports on Pet-Abuse.com state it was in retaliation to a fight with his live-in girlfriend. According to Lockwood's checklist of dangerousness, Babineax's actions are strong indicators of someone who could progress to interpersonal violence: high victim vulnerability, the injury resulted in death, the intimacy of the infliction of injury, and the absence of economic motive.

My hope is that this case will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am so sick and tired of seeing "celebrities" get off with such minimal penalties. I was so happy that the last two cases in our state resulted in the maximum sentences for the offenders, but worry that a strong enough message still isn't being sent that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in Georgia.