Horse Neglect Draws Bread-and-Water Sentance
 

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I think this is great. I cannot stand animal abuse. You can't afford to feed your animals? SELL THEM! GIVE THEM AWAY! Somebody else would love to have them.

Personally though... Give the woman 30 days instead of 3 with bread and water. Not like it will matter, shes only serving on weekends. I have a problem with that too. Yeah, she's got kids... So ship them off to grandma or auntie for a month.

What do you guys think of the punishment?

Well, like it or not, and I don't, the state of Texas is responsible for this woman's health and well being while she is "under their care". A diet consisting of nothing more than bread and water for 30 days, appropriate as it may be, would be detrimental to her health. Yeah, yeah...I know...so what. Still.

As far as serving her 30 day sentence only on weekends...oh yeah, I cry foul on that. you pull 30 days...you serve 30 days. In a row!!

I wonder could she appeal it under cruel and unusual?
She likely wont because of the non-consecutive sentence in any case.

Why would she appeal it? The alternative is serving 2 years. I think it is great.

I think this is awesome. It's about time they bring back the old punishments. Maybe folks will stop screwing around.

She should be happy she only has to serve on the weekends. Hell, she can have her bread and water then go out for a steak on Monday.

Interesting. I'm glad this kind of punishment is brought back for one case, but if this kind of punishment doesn't become more regular, then I don't want to hear another story like it; it's not fair to treat some people harsher than others for the same crime, animal abuse or not.

She deserves every bit of it. Even if the bread and water is only for a few days, she will still feel the twinge of hunger that her horses felt (only on a much grater scale). I don't condone the mistreatment of animals. All they want to do is please you, and they don't have a malicious bone in their body. Especially horses, they are intelligent, trustworthy, loyal and beautiful animals. I hope they get better really quick :)

Actually, it's only 3 days. I've done a 3-day fast and it's not a big deal. Certainly not as big a deal as having abscesses on your feet so you can't stand :(

I think she deserves every bit and probably more. You know, cruelty to humans I can understand. Most of us are assholes, and most of us have choices, agency, the ability to protect ourselves. Animals are largely dependent on the good will and responsible stewardship of humans for their well-being, and there's no excuse for falling down on that responsibility. Shame on her.

Hell, people do diets voluntarily that are much more severe than bread and water for three days.

Can we get some creative sentencing for child neglect now? Maybe lock people in closets in jail and slide a sandwich through once or twice a week? I don't always believe in an eye for an eye, but some people get off too easy.

I like your thinking :thumbsup:

I expect a little bit more compassion from the TFP.

I'd be willing to bet this woman is a single mom, who probably having trouble feeding her kids, let alone two horses. When you're doing everything yourself, it's easy to let things slip out of control. It's unfortunate that these horses had to suffer, but it's even more unfortunate that we live in a society where people don't help each other out, we simply punish failure.

Averett says in an earlier post that "You can't afford to feed your animals? SELL THEM! GIVE THEM AWAY! Somebody else would love to have them."

Well no offense, but have you been to an animal shelter lately? It's not exactly the scenario that you describe.

This isn't failure, it's stupidity.

I'm sorry, but I have no compassion for her. None at all.

I realize that animal shelters aren't exactly the ideal place for animals. But she should have called up the ASPCA once she realized that she could not take care of her animals. They would have helped her out. Thats what the organization is for.

Horses are expensive animals to have. People sometimes do not realize this going in. They think they can just buy a horse and turn it out in a field and not worry about any other feed. That's just not how it goes.

And I call bullshit on her claim of feeding them 28 lbs of food daily and that their condition was due to age. As the article states horses can live well into their 30's with proper care.

This sentance is total bullshit, imo. Why in the world does she get to only serve weekends? Im sure there are plenty of other convicts that would give body parts (important ones, too) to be able to do that. And for what? She has kids? Im sure she's not the first mother to be convicted, and sentanced to jail time.

As for being compassionate that she couldn't afford them, and things slipped out of control. Yeah, maybe. Maybe she forgot to feed them one day. Maybe two. Hell, im feeling good, maybe she forgot to feed them for an entire week.
Im sorry, 4 months is just unacceptable, and unbelievable that she couldn't have done anything about it.

So let's round up all of the stupid people, and put them in jail.

Stupidity 0 Civilization 1

Yeah, that will solve everything. While we are at it, let's get the poor, depressed, retarded, and insane.

Well then you prioritize. You cant't care for 2 kids and 2 horses then you find a way to get rid of the horses.

No offense but I'm sure the horses would have preferred a shelter rather then spending 4 months without proper food or shelter that contributed to a myriad of their ailments.

Horses are expensive animals, and I know for sure that if she gave them away free, instead of neglecting them, they'd have found a nice home.

absolutley. I don't feel this woman will grasp the suffering her horses went through. 3 days without food is nothing, let alone bread every day.

Good point, but it's better than nothing. I wish that she had to serve this sentence either all at once or one week at a time, so she could catch a grasp of what pain she dealt.