Animal-abuse Crackdown Helps Fight Other Crimes
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel
April 2010

In the year preceding the Cruelty Hurts campaign, Crimeline had just 16 such calls. In the year since, it has had 112.

A year-old campaign to crack down on animal cruelty in Orange County has not only led to a substantial increase in felony animal-abuse cases, but it's also helping law-enforcement agencies uncover a host of other crimes – from domestic violence to drug-running to possessing illegal weapons.

The Cruelty Hurts campaign, launched in April 2009 by Orange County Animal Services, is credited with fostering a new spirit of cooperation between abuse investigators, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and police departments from Orlando to Ocoee. It also led to a partnership with Central Florida Crimeline, which began encouraging the public to report animal abuse via its anonymous hotline.

"Studies show that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people," said Kathleen Kennedy, spokeswoman for the animal services department. "It's really exciting to see people take crimes against animals seriously."

Two prominent cases – one national, one local – sparked public interest in the severity of animal abuse and its connection to other problems. In August 2007, NFL quarterback Michael Vick was convicted on charges of operating an interstate dog-fighting ring that killed and tortured the animals. That was followed, in the spring of 2009, by charges of animal cruelty against popular Orlando radio personality Shannon Burke for shooting his wife's dog. In a sworn statement filed in court, Catherine Burke said her husband had threatened, "I'm going to shoot the dog in the head, and you're going to watch." Later, both said it was an accident.

"Especially since the Michael Vick case, people have just paid more attention," said Crimeline Executive Director Barb Bergin. That case, coupled with the Cruelty Hurts campaign – which plastered local billboards and bus shelters with ads publicizing reward money – has led to a sharp rise in tip-line calls reporting animal abuse.

In the year preceding the Cruelty Hurts campaign, Crimeline had just 16 such calls. In the year since, it has had 112. The most shocking call led to the arrest last summer of then-21-year-old Laszlo Horvath of Bithlo, who investigators said had repeatedly sodomized his dog. The Whippet mix was so severely injured that she had to be euthanized.

Last month, Horvath pled no contest to animal cruelty charges and was sentenced to three years' probation and forbidden to own animals.

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