Animals have rights just like us and they should be respected. And no animal deserves to be treated with cruelty. Just basic common sense, right? But not for some humans. Judge Michael Cicconetti, from Ohio, is an animal lover who has become well known for the creative sentences he hands out to animal abusers.
Judge Mike Cicconetti
Prior to his retirement last year, Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti became famous for his unique way of what he called ‘creative justice’. He was known for dishing out punishments that he felt would teach the defendants a lesson.
These unusual punishments give the animal abusers a taste of their own medicine. That way, the lesson would stick and they would think twice before repeating the same crime again.
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Early on in his career, Judge Mike noticed that there were a lot of animal abuse and neglect cases with repeat offenders. Initially, he sentenced them to jail time and a fine, but that did not seem to solve the problem. So he came up with a sentence that fit the crime.
Cicconetti stays well within the confines of the law. He made one woman, who left 35 kittens in the woods, spend a night in the woods all by herself.
“How would you like to be dumped off at a metro park late at night, spend the night listening to the coyotes…listening to the raccoons around you in the dark night, and sit out there in the cold not knowing where you’re going to get your next meal, not knowing when you are going to be rescued?”
Hear him here –
Judge Mike sentenced a woman who had her emaciated dog living in filthy conditions to spend an entire day in the dump.
“I want you to go down to the county dump, to the landfill, and I want them to find the stinkiest, smelliest, God-awful odor place they can find in that dump, and I want you to sit there for eight hours tomorrow, to think about what you did to that dog while you smell the odor. If you puke, you puke,” he stated at the hearing.
You can hear the judge talking to the defendant right here –
Other than punishing offenders, Judge Cicconeti hopes that his headline-worthy sentences spread awareness about the crime of animal abuse and its consequences.
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The Ohio judge also hopes that mandatory mental evaluation will be made for those responsible for these sorts of crimes. Like having a registry for sex offenders, there should also be a registry for animal abusers. This allows shelters to verify potential adopters.
What do you think of it? Let us know your opinions in the comment section below!
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