Pricing Cruelty

By now I suspect we’ve all heard the horrific story of Sally the dog. Sally was abandoned and left to die in a Salvation Army clothing bin at the Hyde Park Stop and Shop last month. By all accounts Sally was in the bin for at least a week enduring high daytime temperatures and cold nights. When found, Sally was severely dehydrated and skeletal. A few more hours in that bin and Sally would have died. The good news is Sally is recovering nicely and the Dutchess SPCA has been deluged with offers to adopt her.
The other good news was a massive law enforcement effort led by Dutchess County Sheriff Butch Anderson actually found and arrested the low life allegedly responsible for this despicable act of cruelty. The suspect is 28 year-old Gary Lee Rhodes of Poughkeepsie. He has been charged with one count each of torturing/not feeding an animal, abandonment of a disabled animal and neglect of an impounded animal, all misdemeanors. Not surprisingly, Rhodes pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Hyde Park court last week.
What was surprising, however, was what transpired at the arraignment. The Assistant District Attorney revealed that Mr. Rhodes had two previous DWI’s and two prior failures to appear in court on his record. Bench warrants were necessary in both cases to get him in a courtroom. At the time of his arrest in the Sally case he was still on probation from his last DWI. You don’t have to be an FBI profiler to see this is a guy who doesn’t think the law applies to him.
So it would stand to reason the judge here would at least set a decent bail for this proven scofflaw. Well, you would be wrong. When Judge John Kennedy was asked by the prosecutor to post bail at $1,000, the judge said he can’t predict the future and let Rhodes go on his own recognizance. Here’s an idea, Judge. Forget the future; take a look at this guy’s past. He didn’t show up the last two times he was due in court. How about requiring this criminal to have a financial stake in honoring his obligation to appear?
It gets better. Prior to letting Rhodes walk, his public defender waxed on about the positive changes Rhodes had been making in his life like working at a community center. (Most people call that having a job). Then the Judge himself chimed in with “He appears to be in an upward trend of getting his life together.” Really? What part of two drunk driving convictions and stuffing a helpless animal in a clothing bin constitutes “an upward trend?” Did this guy have to set the dog on fire to get you to post bail, Judge?
Then there’s the message this sends to the community. Now I know bail shouldn’t be used as a form of punishment but it should reflect the severity of the charge. By refusing to post bond here, the Judge is putting a zero dollar value on the treatment and life of an animal. It’s said a society is best reflected by the manner in which it protects the most vulnerable. If this is the value we place on an innocent animal, what does that say about us as a community? A good start would be toughening the laws on animal cruelty. Maybe some of these folks running for Assembly could get something done.