Dori: We care more about pit bulls in King County than other human beings

Over the weekend, the Seattle Times reported that three pit bulls were found starved in King County.

The photos of the emaciated dogs with their ribs sticking out are absolutely heartbreaking. The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has any information on who could have done this.

I’m glad we’re so tough on animal abusers. If this person is caught, first-degree animal abuse is a class C felony. The abuser could go to jail for five years. I’m glad about that. Do not get me wrong. I’m a dog owner myself and I love animals.

But, how bizarre have we gotten around here, that we seem to care more about pit bulls than human beings?

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We will let a rapist of a woman confined to a wheelchair walk free to re-attack his victim, as King County Superior Court Judge Nicole Gaines Phelps did.

But, we’ll bring the hammer down on someone who starves dogs. We should absolutely come down hard on animal abusers. But shouldn’t we treat someone who rapes another human being at least as tough as someone who starves a dog?

King County Superior Court Judge Veronica Alicea-Galvan let a homeless vagrant who bashed in the face of a singer with a baseball bat walk free. The musician lost the ability to speak and sing for months, and is still in a wheelchair.

But, if we catch the person who starved the dogs, we will lock him up and throw away the key.

How did we get to a place where we care more about animals than we do about human beings? Yes, we should care about animals. And yes, I want the cruel person who starved the dogs to be locked up. But it’s hard for me, in the hierarchy of principles and priorities, to understand how we’re searching for the dog-starver, but we let convicted rapists go free.

Let’s be tough on people who abuse animals. I just have one simple request — could we start getting nearly as tough on people who abuse other human beings?

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