As we are nearing the Washington Humane Lobby Day, a woman in Springfield, Ore. is sentenced to five days of jail time and barred from owning any pets for 15 years for throwing two cats into a river. In an afternoon court session on Jan. 24, 2013 Betty Ann Gould entered her plea of “no contest” to the two charges of misdemeanor counts of attempted aggravate animal abuse. Although the sentence is a long time for a woman in her 60s many people who are fighting for animal rights do not feel that it’s enough of a sentence, especially for a breeder, but it does leave you to wonder what exactly happened.
Betty has told authorities that she had given away 50 to 60 Persian cats before trying to kill the two cats that she threw into a river. The two cats were rescued from the Willamette River in Nov. 2012 and Betty was arrested for the crime on Dec. 3, 2012 and spent 5 days in jail. Today the cats are living a happy and protected life with a Eugene, Ore. family. It is still unclear as to why she did it.
Although it’s unlikely that Betty will ever have another pet as the sentence restrains her from having pets again until she is 77, many people do not feel that this sends enough of a message. Animal abuse by breeders is a huge problem and it’s also possible that she may have also been a hoarder. These 2 cats lucked out but there is no telling if there had been others before them that were not so lucky. The Washington Humane Lobby Day is on Jan. 28, 2013 in Olympia, Wash. Let your government know how you feel about crimes like this.
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