1798 Cat abuse lands perp in the woods for a night

Judge Michael A. Cicconetti of Painesville, Ohio is known for his creative sentencing. Michelle M Murray has received a 15 day jail sentence for abandoning 35 mittens kittens in two parks. She has to spend the first night of her sentence in the woods without food or shelter (precautions have been taken for her safety, which is more than the kittens got). She also got a $3,200 restitution fine and can't own or care for animals for 3 years. I wish the courts were that tough on bad parents and in domestic abuse cases. Story is in today's Columbus Dispatch (no free on-line). If you Google this, you'll find a number of animal rights sites were watching this case, but in this judge's case, I don't think that made any difference. He sentenced someone who had called a policemen a "pig" to time inside a pig pen in public view.

If you kill a woman in Ohio while drunk, you'll only get 5 years (plus a few extra for a gun or abuse of a corpse) and no fine, and you'll probably get custody of the pit bull!