10/20/09: Two Dogs Shot At Point Blank Range In New York

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION / BACKGROUND

ХааKinship Circle Member, Ethel Silverberg
ХааArrest made in Berne dog shooting case
ХааLAWS OF NEW YORK, 1999 / CHAPTER 118 / Buster's Law
ХааAdditional information from Kinship Circle Investigative Researcher

LT: Robert Bushnell, 50 of Berne, was charged with torturing an animal and dog theft, misdemeanors under state Agriculture and Markets Law, for shooting two of his neighbor's dogs. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) RT: Mocha, a chocolate Labrador, and Rocky, an Alaskan Malamute, were found shot to death in the woods in Berne. (Photo provided by Amy Tubbs)

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I am deeply concerned about the case of Sean Lynde, a Manhattan man who methodically killed girlfriend Rachael Strate's four cats. Animal torture and murder are serious crimes that demand your utmost deliberation. In October 2008, Lynde allegedly poisoned Cleo, whose body was found with a mouthful of detergent behind a dryer. He bludgeoned Zoe so severely, a veterinarian euthanized her. Strate next adopted kittens Willie and Betty. Within a month, Willie was fatally crippled and Lynde claims Betty "fell off a countertop" to her death. After Strate brought home two more kittens, one named Emo vanished and Bonafide turned up with a broken neck. Lynde seemingly derives pleasure from prolonged suffering -- as further evidenced by past charges for crippling a kitten and instigating a sixth cat's disappearance. I urge officials to levy the maximum felony penalty of four years in prison for six counts of aggravated animal cruelty and to seek the full misdemeanor sentence for harassment and stalking charges related to ex-girlfriend Strate. Please ensure Lynde undergoes extensive psychological evaluation and is barred from possessing or living with animals. Violence against animals is a recognized precursor to violence against humans. Indeed, Lynde already vented rage on Strate in March when he reportedly struck her computer so hard it cost $800 to repair. Repeat animal attacks suggest a predatory style that is a sign of "organized and premeditated violence against others," says Dr. Randall Lockwood, an animal behaviorist with ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Initiatives who consults with cruelty investigators, law enforcers and mental health professionals. Prolific murderers such as the Boston Strangler, Son of Sam, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy practiced on animals before graduating to humans. Dennis Rader, notorious for the Bind-Torture-Kill murders in Wichita, Kansas, confessed to strangling cats and dogs before his sadistic spree. Men prosecuted for animal cruelty are five times as likely to be arrested for other violent crimes, claims Utah State University professor Frank Ascione. I implore New York courts to recognize the gravity of animal cruelty crimes. Sean Lynde needs rehabilitation and incarceration. Please do not release a sociopath back into our society. Thank you, <YOUR FIRST and LAST NAME> <YOUR ADDRESS <YOUR COUNTRY>

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Hon. P. David Soares, District Attorney
Office of the Albany County District Attorney
Albany County Judicial Center
6 Lodge Street / Albany, NY 12207
ph: 518-487-5460; fax: 518-487-5093
email: dsoares@albanycounty.com
Heather Streeter Orth: Heather.Orth@albanycounty.com
SOURCE: www.albanycountyda.com/contact.html
nownys.org/docs/District%20Attorneys%20in%20NYS.pdf
www.albanycountyda.com/rap_sheet_main.htm

Berne Town Court
Hon. Kenneth R. Bunzey & Hon. Richard M. Guilz
PO Box 57 / Berne, NY 12023
ph: 518-872-1448
Questions about Berne: info@BerneNY.org
Patricia M. Favreau, Town Clerk: townclerk@BerneNY.org
SOURCE: www.berneny.org/officialshours.htm
www.town-court.com/getTownCourt.php?courtID=73

James L. Campbell, Sheriff
Craig D. Apple, Undersheriff
Albany County Sheriff's Department
County Court House
Albany, NY 12207
ph: 518-487-5440, 518-487-5440
fax: 518-487-5037
web contact form: www.albanycountysheriff.com/index.php? option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=49
WEBSITE: www.albanycountysheriff.com

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dsoares@albanycounty.com, Heather.Orth@albanycounty.com, info@BerneNY.org, townclerk@BerneNY.org

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Hon. District Attorney P. David Soares, Hon. Kenneth R. Bunzey & Hon. Richard M. Guilz, and Sheriff James L. Campbell:

Please accept my comments about Robert Bushnell, 50, of Woodstock Road, who confessed to police on 9/30/09 that he killed neighbor Amy Tubbs' two dogs.

Sheriff James Campbell said Bushnell transported Mocha, a 7-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, and Rocky, a 5-year-old Alaskan malamute, to state property where he shot them. He fired two bullets into Rocky and a single bullet into Mocha. Bushnell claims the dogs had attacked his chickens, chased livestock, and posed a risk to his children.

I urge you to upgrade Bushnell's misdemeanor charges for animal torture and stealing to felony offenses. Under Buster's Law з 353-a., a person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when...he or she intentionally kills...a companion animal...and it is done (ii) in an especially depraved or sadistic manner. While Buster's Law exempts "animals posing a threat to human safety or other animals," it calls for the act of killing to be "legally authorized."

Shooting two companion dogs at point blank range is "especially depraved." Furthermore, Bushnell took the law into his own hands when he killed Rocky and Mocha without legal consent. In fact, Amy Tubbs had tried to find out whose chickens her dogs had killed Ч but Bushnell never gave her the chance to make amends or better confine her dogs.

I hope you will recognize the gravity of Bushnell's crime and seek felony penalties of up to two years in prison. Bushnell ought to be barred from possessing or living with animals as well.

Officials should be concerned that Bushnell resorted to illegal violence to solve a problem. Violence against animals is a well-documented precursor to violence against humans Ч particularly vulnerable victims such as children, women or the elderly. Animal cruelty investigations often uncover domestic violence or other signs of a troubled family, P. Arkow notes in "Breaking the cycles of violence: A guide to multi-disciplinary interventions."

The deliberate slaughter of two companion animals qualifies as aggravated cruelty. Thank you for holding animal abusers accountable for their crimes.

Sincerely,

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