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Animal Torture Could Lead To Human Violence

2 Dog Burnings Cause Concern About Future Behavior

POSTED: 4:33 pm CDT August 3, 2007
UPDATED: 7:36 pm CDT August 3, 2007

A second dog-burning has caused concern about the potential for more severe violence for those responsible.

Video: 2nd Dog Torture Concerns Experts

Channel 4 News first reported Thursday night about a second dog in north Nashville that was doused with gasoline and set on fire.

While the dog in this attack lived, the first dog died after being burned alive.

Prosecutors said the juveniles charged with the first dog burning are not responsible for the second. But the burning of both dogs has renewed concerns about what officials call “the link.”

"The link. The link between animal violence and human violence,” said Mary Pat Boatfield of the Nashville Humane Association.

While five children are charged in the burning of the first dog, prosecutors said there's no evidence to show they were involved in the burning of the second, Angel, a German Sheppard mix.

“In a situation like this, it makes you wonder if we have a copycat person that's begun to follow this pattern,” Boatfield said.

Officials said the search is urgent in part because of the link theory connecting children's behavior and adult violence.

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation serial killer profiler Robert Ressler said: “Murderers very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids."

Ressler’s quote has been widely published in psychological and criminal justice journals.

"The idea is to have power over something that cannot fight for itself,” Boatfield said.

This week, court testimony showed that 14-year-old Ronkeivius Williamson tortured animals as a child. He's now charged with killing a college basketball player.

Many are wondering that if someone could do this to Angel, what could they do to a person?

“This individual, to hold a dog down in the midst of screaming is scary indeed,” Boatfield said.

The five children charged in the first dog burning were put on GPS monitoring. Prosecutors said it shows they were home at the time of the second attack.

The other two children are in Department of Children’s Services custody.

Metro Animal Services is already receiving phone calls about being offering a reward for information that leads to an arrest.


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