Rapid Response
With the Rapid Response program, the ASI has expanded our AniCare program to include outreach and education to the criminal justice system and the general public, in addition to the training of therapists.
We monitor media outlets and animal cruelty Web sites to learn about cruelty cases and then respond by sending letters to the editor and to the judges presiding over each case. We note the relationship between violence toward animals and other violence, and the need for specialized treatment for offenders (not just punishment or nonspecific "anger management") in addition to other punishment provided by law. AniCare is not intended to take the place of a jail or prison sentence, but is to be used to prevent recidivism.
Rapid Response both educates the public about the seriousness of animal cruelty and offers to professionals in the criminal justice system resources that can be used in sentencing both juvenile and adult perpetrators. The ultimate goal is to stop such behavior before it is repeated or escalates, thus making the entire community safer.
A few of the cases in which we have contacted judges before sentencing include:
A Michigan woman who locked her young spaniel in an apartment closet until the dog starved to death
A Minnesota man who threw a kitten against the wall during a fight with his girlfriend
A Michigan man who bludgeoned his girlfriend's rabbit to death during a domestic dispute in which he also assaulted the woman
Letters to the editor help educate the general public about the seriousness and larger implications of animal cruelty crimes, and promote awareness of the AniCare program. For example, we've had letters printed about a case where a man taped his dog's mouth shut and left her alone to suffocate, as well as a case of a woman who let her dog's collar become embedded in the animal's neck.
Our Rapid Reponse letters also reach a national audience. O: The Oprah Magazine published an ASI letter in response to an article that discussed animal abuse and domestic violence. An editorial explaining why football player Michael Vick should be ordered to undergo psychological counseling for his dog-fighting crimes was originally printed in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and later reprinted in other newspapers across the country.
We thank the James A. & Faith Knight Foundation for awarding the ASI a grant to fund the Rapid Response program in two southeast Michigan counties in 2010.
