EDITOR'S NOTE: Here are two animal stories from writer Barbara Bowers— one a story about unbelievable cruelty to cat; another about kindness beyong the call of duty.
No one knows, yet, how many people were killed when hijackers flew jumbo jets into the World Trade Centers in New York, and into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. We'll probably never know how many animals these terrorists practiced on. But we do know that four cats have been intentionally, serially tortured and killed since June at the American Legion Hall on Stock Island.
"We have to be careful when we relate terrorists to animal killings," said Lt. Sherry Schlueter of the Broward County Sheriff's Office. "Terrorism is often attached to religious beliefs, and people who would kill thousands of people for a specific cause might never hurt an animal. But adults, and especially children who are involved in repeated, agonizing deaths of animals are demonstrating their capabilities, and they may very well be showing their ability to do this to humans."
In November, Lt. Schlueter will conduct a workshop related to felonious crimes and cruelty perpetrated on animals for Key West policemen and Monroe County deputies.
"She's famous for her success in getting prosecutions against kids," said Linda Gottwald of Stand Up For Animals, the organization sponsoring the workshop. "Lt. Schlueter knows how to use the system and in her workshops, she shares this information with our law enforcement agencies."
Gottwald and Karen Lawlor, the assistant manager at the American Legion Hall, say they are worried that these and other animal deaths aren't being taken seriously by local authorities.
"The cruelty actually started in February when Jack the Cat was shot with a nail gun," said Lawlor. "Since then, four more cats have been shot, brutaly beaten and killed. The most recent was Patty, an eight- month old kitten who was still fairly wild. She was afraid of most people, so I know someone —or several people— had to stalk her and entrap her in the driving range net at the golf course. The results of her autopsy isn't available, yet, but I know she was attacked in some way."
Lawlor says four youths, ages 14 to 16, who live in the golf course condominiums are prime suspects.
"When Odie was killed in June, detectives confiscated BB guns, ìsling shots and pellet guns from their homes, but there's been little follow up. I don't think they've even questioned these kids since Patty was killed on August 27," Lawler said.
A $1000 reward has been offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest and conviction, as well as a $500 reward offered by Stand Up For Animals.
And Gottwald says SUA was recently successful in prompting response to another cat murder. "The 9-, 10- and 11-year old boys who killed the house cat on Amelia Street have been caught, and two informants were rewarded the money, although one asked to have the money applied to an anti-cruelty program we're developing in the schools," said Gottwald. "These boys were caught because ìthey were bragging about what they did."
Gottwald and Lawlor speculate that behind the rash of felonies, there is a much too soft attitude toward animal cruelty. "Boys are just being boys" can no longer be tolerated.
"All law enforcement and social agencies need to know the warning signs," said Lt. Schlueter, who supervises Broward's special victims and family crimes unit. "Animal cruelty has to be taken seriously for what it tells us of a child's psyche, especially with serial killings. "
Intentional acts of cruelty, torture and/or killing is symptomatic of conduct disorder, and it should alarm law enforcement agencies," she said. "If there is no intervention for the children involved, it may