Convicted Dog-Killer Gets 49 Years

Friday, August 31, 2001 - USA

On Tuesday, August 28, Travis Wilson was sentenced for felony burglary in the theft of "Dexter", a 35-pound Basset Hound that subsequently was mutilated and burned before being tossed on his owner's driveway.  Dexter had astonishingly survived an earlier beating on February 12, though he was paralyzed as a result.  The second beating which happened weeks later, involving the cutting off of all four of Dexter's legs, proved fatal (read the full account here).

In July, 20-year-old Wilson was convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty and sentenced to eight months in prison.  It was the supplemental sentencing for felony burglary last Tuesday that landed Wilson in the pokey for the longer haul.  In addition, Presiding Judge Keith Kautz of the 8th Judicial District in Torrington recommended that Wilson be sent to the Wyoming prison system's boot camp for part of his incarceration.

Although animal cruelty is only a misdemeanor in Wyoming, Goshen County Sheriff Don Murphy says the hundreds of phone calls and emails he's received about the Dexter case convinced him the legislature should make extreme animal abuse a felony.

As well, other Goshen County officials have received as many as 2,000 outraged e-mails, letters and phone calls from as far away as Europe and Australia, according to the Denver Post, which has been reporting on the case for several months.

"That is fabulous," says Christine Gavlick, president of Colorado Basset Rescue & Adoption Service Inc.  "I am pleased to hear justice was meted out swiftly and accurately, and I hope this will raise the level of awareness about animal-abuse laws."

Animal abuse has been made a felony in 33 out of the 50 United States.  Legislation is pending in several of the remaining 17.  Penalties vary considerably between states.

UPDATE September 26, 2002: Don't break out the Champagne just yet; we have bad news.  Please see the follow-up article: "Good Judge / Bad Judge".

§§§

 

*	2nd offense is a felony
**	3rd offense is a felony

Unless otherwise noted, this information is current as of June 2000 (source: The Humane Society of the United States), with recent updates shown in red.

UPDATE June 10, 2002: Colorado has just joined us! Check out the new & improved Animal Cruelty Law chart from catsinthenews.com and the story of "Westy" who made it all happen.