| Thursday, July 15, 1999 - The Alanta Journal & Constitution (morning edition) - TWO BOYS FREED, AWAIT HEARING IN CAT TORTURE A Hall Couny Juvenile Court judge Wednesday ordered the release of two Flowery Branch boys accused of dousing a kitten with gasline and setting it on fire. The orange tabby named Dunkin died Saturday, nearly a week after the alleged torture. The suspects will remain under house arrest in the custody of their parents pending a juvenile Court trial scheduled to begin July 22. The boys are charged with felony arson, animal cruelty, criminal trespass and reckless conduct. They have denied the charges. http://216.33.148.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=&lah=94f620672f1de266aebe9acaae7ae944&lat=946749163&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fmembers%2etripod%2ecom%2f%7ejudymyers%2findex%2ehtml HALL JUDGE FIND TEENS GUILTY IN DEATH OF KITTEN - By Duane D. Stanford A Hall County judge on Thursday found two Flowery Branch boys guilty of killing a kitten after pouring gasoline on the animal and setting it on fire. "It's hard for me to understand why you did this, what you were possibly thinking," Juvenile Court Judge Cliff Joliff said after finding the boys delinquent on charges of felony criminal damage to property and misdemeanor animal cruelty. "You've got to know you're going to have to earn every dollar...to pay Dr. [Dick] Smiley's bill," the judge told the boys. Smiley, the veterinarian, who tried in vain to save the kitten, is owed $670. "You guys also better be thinking about what you're going to say to the Fetterolf family. Joliff postponed those apologies and sentencing until counselors complete psychological tests of the 13- and 14-year-olds, who will remain under house arrest at their homes until then. The judge ordered random drug testing, including an immediate test Testimony revealed that at least one of the boys smoked marijuana shortly before igniting the gas-soaked cat with a cigarette lighter. Joliff said he hopes to conclude the case before school starts Aug. 24. Lisa Fetterolf, who owned the 3-month-old orange tabby named Dunkin, stormed out of the courthouse criticizing officials for releasing the boys into their mothers' custody. The judge had refused Hall Assistant District Attorney Gregory Radics' request that the boys be kept in juvenile detention after they were found guilty of a felony. "They're OK to go home now as long as they're on our street and not theirs," Fetterolf said of the court officials as she passed through a crowd of chanting animal rights activists on the steps of the Hall County Courthouse in Gainesville. Her daughter, Amanda Fetterolf, 14, said she believes the boys should have been sentenced immediately to seven years, a cat's minimum average life span. During testimony Thursday, a string of prosecution witnesses said one of the boys swung he kitten by its hind quarters and kicked it in the head before Fetterolf's children forced the two to leave their property. The children were all neighborhood acquaintances and some went to school together. Later, the boys took a can of gasoline from a shelf behind the Fetterolfs' home and poured it over Dunkin before flicking the lighter, testimony revealed. The flames licked up the side of the cedar house before Fetterolf's legally blind son put the fire out with a hose. Some wept or looked away as the veterinarian detailed the cat's extensive burns, which included exposed veins and bone. The cat died nearly a week after the incident. The mothers of the juvenile delinquents declined to comment on the judge's ruling. Ron Lambert of Cumming (GA), who was among about 20 animal rights activists in court Thursday, stopped one of the mothers as she rose to leave. He asked what she did when she found out her son tortured the cat. The woman glared at Lambert, who then began an angry diatribe about how he would have hurt the boy. On the courthouse steps during a lunch break, Lambert and other protesters expressed anger over the boys' cavalier attitude in court. Still another activist, Carolyn Danese, appeared a bit surprised by the behavior of some of her fellow activists. She said she prefers to effect change through legislation and intends to push a bill in the General Assembly next year that would make some acts of animal cruelty a felony. K e e p D u n k i n ' s M e m o r y A l i v e www.classmates.com |
| Dunkin's Story Page3 |
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| Remember Dunkin |
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