No justice for little Chunky the tortured puppy-update

Chunky recovering from the abuse

Op-Ed: Don't you often want to despair of humanity?

In late 2015 reports that a one-month old puppy Chihuahua cross called Chunky had been snatched from the garden of a home in Kent caused an angry outcry for many reasons.

The tiny puppy was snatched by four teenagers, who cannot be named due their ages, and they cruelly abused this young dog.

Chunky was beaten, drugged and set on fire and the details are horrific.

"The teenagers who stole him then tortured him for hours. He was left with multiple injuries that included a broken neck and leg, he was fed drugs and set fire to his face after spraying him with an aerosol can. He was then left for dead at a rubbish dump. The RSPCA have stated this is one of the worst cases they seen."

Chunky is just one more pet let down by out-dated animal welfare laws in the UK.

This case has led to a widely supported petition to the UK Justice Minister demanding "Review the lenient sentences handed down for the torture of Chunky the Chihuahua."

As the petition notes "Two of the gang were 15 and 16 at the time of the offence. All four abusers were banned for keeping animals for five years, were handed out 12-month referral orders and ordered to pay costs with fines ranging from £500 to £1000, totalling £2,000."

The offences took place February 2015 but the perpetrators did not appear in court until November.

The sentences do not fit the crime.

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Chunky back home and doing well now

As a dog owner and lover this crime and the sentencing appals me but whether you like dogs or not the nature of the crime should worry you.

How you treat vulnerable creatures is a good mark of you as a person.

If you will inflict pain on an animal for no reason than your own sick gratification then you are not fit to walk the streets. Who or what will be your next target.

The age of the offenders in this case may have led the judge to handing out an inappropriate sentence but surely now is the time to stop these young people in their tracks and makes sure they do not reoffend?

In late November 2015 Kent Online reported "Kent Police has issued a warning about threatening behaviour after a strong public reaction to the sentencing of four teenagers convicted of torturing a dog. A police spokesman said: "Kent Police is aware people are upset about an animal cruelty case which has been widely reported. “Although the story is distressing, we would remind people that making direct threats towards others in reaction, either via the phone or on social media and websites, can be considered an offence as well."

We wonder what sentence any such social media abuse would attract.

Perhaps if the justice system had done their job properly people could move on.

Instead of joining abuse why not sign the petition and work toward improving UK sentencing for animal abuse?

You can find and then sign the petition by following the link here

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Chunky is doing better!!
Maxine Berry
Leeds, United Kingdom

12 Feb 2016 — Many of you asked how Chunky was doing, the owner got in contact with me and these pictures have surfaced https://www.facebook.com/Chunky-562593590575184/?fref=photo on her Chunky page please like and follow Chunky here. I will keep posting photos of Chunky as we go!!

The petition to David Cameron, for justice for Chunky now has 433,186 supporters.