Making the Punishment Fit the Crime
Let’s hear it for Ohio Judge Michael Cicconetti, who sentenced kitten abandoner Michelle Murray to stay outside for abandoning 40 kittens, 9 of which died or had to be euthanized as a result. Unfortunately, the message seems to be lost on an unrepentant Murray:
In a Thursday interview, Murray said a stranger left the kittens on her doorstep and the local animal shelter refused to help her. So she said she left the kittens in parks “to force the humane society to do something.”
The mother of three children and two stepchildren agreed to the night in the woods only because she could not afford to spend 90 days in jail.
“But it’s inhumane for the judge to send me out in the cold with nothing but the clothes on my back,” she said.
Bring back Robert Scheer’s mini-violin. If letting her off after one friggin’ night in the cold is “inhumane,” then what the hell do you call abandoning 40 kittens to die? Besides, the choice was hers, not the judge’s. So let’s all let out a great big “boo friggin’ hoo” for Michelle Murray. Here’s a pic of some of her more fortunate victims.
UPDATE: Doc Rampage argues that Murray didn’t do anything wrong. O-kay.
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:15 pm
Screw the cats. A HUMAN BEING has to sleep outside in the cold? That’s bull shit.
November 23rd, 2005 at 6:42 am
I don’t know. I read the article and feel like I don’t know the whole story. Did someone drop the 40 kittens on her doorstep? If not, where the heck did she get 40 kittens – that’s a lot of kittens. And what’s the evidence that she did or didn’t try to get help from the Humane Society?
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:08 am
I don’t buy it. If some stranger really dumped them on her doorstep, how would identification collars on the kittens lead investigators back to her? And if she was really trying to “force the humane society to do something,” wouldn’t it make more sense to abandon the kittens in a public area near the humane society, rather than some remote area where some hikers may or may not find them?
My take: she pleaded guilty because she is guilty.
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:48 am
I’m with Xrlq, the ID collars used to track her indicate she may be fibbing.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:56 am
I’ve never heard of a humane society that wouldn’t at least take some of the kittens and make a few calls to place the rest. I can understand that the HS might not have resources for 40, but that’s why they have phone lists with volunteers and rescue groups and verterinary hospitals that can help temporarily.
Her story is complete BS. I hope she was cold and lonely and scared.
November 23rd, 2005 at 11:53 am
[...] Damnum Absque Injuria feels that the punishment more than fitted the crime (as does this author), Funny Pets Blog feels a night was less than adequate, Randomized Drivel also writes about this, The Smoking Gun has the court document displayed on its post, and finally Cleveland.com has a longer post on this, including a snippet by the sentenced: “But it’s inhumane for the judge to send me out in the cold with nothing but the clothes on my back,” she said. [...]
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:46 pm
The lovely Mrs. Murray thinks that “it’s inhumane for the judge to send me out in the cold with nothing but the clothes on my back?”
How many of our ancestors had to sleep outside, for a lot more than one freaking night, with nothing but the clothes on their backs?
Perhaps this is what the left means when they think President Bush is torturing prisoners.
May a flock of well-fed pigeons fly directly over poor Mrs. Murray whilst she serves her well deserved punishment.
November 25th, 2005 at 12:54 am
The punishment does not fit the crime. This woman will suffer. The kittens did not suffer.
November 25th, 2005 at 4:23 am
What are you talking about? Of course the kittens suffered.
November 25th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
Doc Rampage, were you drinking when you wrote your statement? Why would you think that the kittens didn’t suffer? And as for miss murray suffering for one night, after what she had done I would love to get a front row seat to her torcherous and humiliating night! Honey, I hope you freeze your ass off!
November 25th, 2005 at 3:18 pm
Xrlq and missucka, I started to respond to your responses but it got to be too long for a comment so I posted a response on my blog instead.