Reader comments
Teen booked in beating of dog

Will the 17 year olds be charged as adults? They should be. It would have been more informative had the article discussed this point.

I hope those involved are treated and convicted as adults. Dogs are the most loving and loyal creatures on earth! Anyone who would want to hurt/kill this dog should be out of society. They have no soul!

I agree. Who does that? It's enough to feel the violation of someone invading your home and stealing your posessions. It is an entirely different ballgame when they brutalize the most innocent, loving beings you can find and leave them for dead in a pool of blood. It's not even like it was a Rottweiler or something (but even then, cruelty is the lowest of low). Honestly, what scum.

[snip] Ranger, who belongs to Vicky Kunz and her family, was at home the weekend of Aug. 16 while the family was out of town on vacation. [end snip]

Was Ranger left alone and unattended, and if so for how long? Just asking...

They deserve to have the book thrown at them.

For those who do not think animals should be protected by the law like this - what if the parents were out to dinner or the store and had left a 12 or 13 year old home alone. Do you think the teens would have left the human alone, or beaten him/her up when confronted? It is a proven fact that those who have no regard for pets and will abuse them, are much more likely to abuse children or people in general.

Anyone abusing any living creature should be held responsible. Laws need to be created to protect anymals.

Let's hope these two diabolical teens don't go before a bleeding heart judge who thinks all young people deserve lenient sentencing. These two knew what they were doing and most likely enjoyed trying to kill a small dog. Big brave guys! They need to be put away for a long time so they are not a further danger to animals and humans. These cowards are not fit to take up space on Earth.

...I believe someone was looking after the dog. He had food and water. I'm glad to hear he is doing better, but sorry he still has some difficulties to deal with. It's bad enough to have your home invaded but to have a loved pet treated with such cruelty certainly adds insult to injury.

This is a terrible crime....however, when people are brutilized, raped, mugged and murdered....they seem to frequently get more compassion.???

I abhor violence against the weak (whether or not it is against women, children, or animals) but do you really think that a 17 year old boy should be charged as an adult? A boy of that age cannot legally drink or smoke, vote, enter into a valid contract, get married or join the military without parental permission. So...if he isn't "mature enough" for any of these "privileges", why then should he be given an adult penalty?

What I sincerely regret is that the U.S. is NOT as civilized as Singapore. There, they FLOG all violent offenders...even teenagers. It does wonders to prevent repeat offences. I am a firm believer that if you exhibit violence toward others, then you must experience state-provided "controlled" violence in return. Otherwise, how can they possibly "emphasize" with the victim, if they haven't felt the violence themselves?

It was a 13 pound dog, if it was a 14 pound dog the beating would be justified. Lets spend 40,000 thousand bucks a year to throw this kid in jail, that will sure serve society well. KSL has 10,000 dogs listed on classifieds, that aren't wanted. You animal lovers why don't you work on getting that number down to say three grand.

I agree that doing this to a dog is horrible.
I agree that stiffer punishments sould be given, like unto like (violence met with violence etc.)
But what about those women and men out there who drown their own kids? Or leave them in a car alone? or burn them on purpose for the heck of it? In today's society you get more of a punishment for killing a dog than you do for killing a child. Not to downplay the worth of dogs, but who's the more important species? Killing/hurting a dog is like doing that to a human's heart, but killing a child is killing the future. Come on, people let's shape up and correct our judicial system.