When a person is convicted of the unlawful killing of someone’s pet cat the owner seeks compensation for their loss; this is ‘restitution’.
A recent live and real case can be used to illustrate how it works. It concerns Pam Dowell, the lady who is moving home to get away from some neighbors, one of whom, Steven Mishow, pleaded guilty in a criminal court to two misdemeanour counts of cruelty to animals. He had shot at Dowell’s two cats. He admitted in a secret recording that he had ‘killed the motherfucker..’
He paid promptly!….
Dowell decided to move to a better neighbourhood and I agree with her decision. When your neighbours are consistently misbehaving and show no sign of letting up or changing their ways the best solution, even though it feels like a ‘defeat’ is to get out, to walk away. Life is too short to do anything else.
Back to restitution. The cats were never found but the judge decided, it seems to me (I’ll happily be corrected), that Mishow killed the cats as Judge Korey Wahwassuck ordered restitution on Dowell’s application.
“The State has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that P.D. [Pam Dowell] is entitled to restitution for the fair market replacement value of two cats.”
Dowell had asked for over $10,000. In her request she stated that ‘the cost of obtaining a new cat, including spaying/neutering, declawing, and other veterinarian bills, is approximately $500-$600’. Dowell had also asked for compensation in respect of other items such as the care costs of the two killed cats, Olivia and Emerald, for the period 2007-2017 amounting to almost $8,000.
The defendant, Mishow, objected to the amount and offered $100. He argued that the amount should be limited to the ‘fair market value of the cats’.
The judge stated in the court order that:
‘…restitution must be limited to losses incurred as a direct result of the crime for which the Defendant has been convicted.’ (i.e. the loss of PD’s two cats). Restitution would pay for replacement cats.
YOU CAN READ THE ENTIRE COURT RESTITUTION ORDER BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK – published with the permission of Pam Dowell.
This begs the interesting question as to why restitution does not cover emotional distress. The true loss by the cats’ owner amounts to more than two cats. There is the long term emotional distress caused as a consequence. This is real and tangible. Some judges do allow compensation to cover such ‘loses’ (loss of contentment) but rarely.
Judge Korey Wahwassuck stuck to the conventional decision and agreed PD’s figure of $500 per cat and granted restitution of $1,000. It felt like a loss to PD but I’d say it was a success. Of course, it is far short of compensating for the true loss.
I am sure that the concept of restitution is standard procedure in most countries. In California, USA, restitution is mandatory for all persons convicted of any crime including cruelty to animals.
In a well-known case of cat cruelty which I reported on some time ago, a drive by shooter of a cat, Kyre West, was ordered to pay $276 in restitution to the cat’s caregiver.
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Those people who use the SSS rules are S’s
That rule applies to trolls only.
Just curious–I see no photos of any posters in here. Some of them apparently not required to post their photos. I suspect if you require this of ALL your posters, you soon won’t have any, if for no other reason that it’s too much trouble, and most people value their privacy–the internet has become too invasive as it is. Just a thought.
This seems to be an example of “be careful what you wish for”.
The potential for liability is far greater if an individual can demonstrate his neighbor’s animal had damaged or destroyed his property. This happens far more often than somebody deliberately killing a cat.
Also, the ones who even get charged with anything for shooting a cat are those careless individuals who forget the “SSS rule”–shoot, shovel and shut-up.
We sued our murdering DVM despite knowing the odds of recovering more than the actual value of our cat was almost non existent.
They have a victory and they can now proceed to make sure his life is wrecked.
There is a record and my guess being he will not pay means they need to actively pursue it as it could result in jail time. Failing to obey the orders of the court is called contempt.
Since this was tried in criminal court she may now be able to move on to civil court where punitive damages and more life wrecking can be had by obtaining a judgment that can be attached to his property, cars, and even garnishment. You can find out how to file a small claims and your states limits and do it yourself for a minimum amount of money. Generally a conviction in criminal court is an auto win in civil since the balance of guilty in a civil case is much different.
And in all other cases the cat-shooter…(deleted because of non-compliance with comment rules. I need to see a photo of you. You can upload one. I will also need verification that your name is genuine – Admin).