Not fucking guilty.

[flvegan]

Pardon my language.

More in a bit. Just got home and wanted to let everyone know right away...

Total bullshit.

[shockra]

1. Oh shit.

:grr:

[friesianrider]

2. What!!??

What the hell happened? :mad:

[City Lights]

3. Oh man.

Sorry to hear that. x( Will be waiting for details.

[RebelOne]

4. Please update us. n/t

[shockra]

5. He's probably busy punching a wall.

:banghead:

[yewberry]

6. Oh, crap.

I'm so, so sorry.

[flamingyouth]

7. What a pantload.

I'm so sorry. :banghead:

[smbolisnch]

8. No!!

What happened?? Damnit! :eyes:

[flvegan]

9. Sorry for the post 'n run, had to take care of the animals

Anyway, I didn't even get called to testify. The ex-girlfriend testified. She was high when the event happened. The emergency vet testified. Did very well. Cops testified. Nice work. Even shithead testified. Said that he pushed Dog out of the way getting into bed and he fell on a glass. Jury bought it. At least, they bought it enough. Why? No pictures of the table. No big shards of glass with DNA tests proving it's Dog's blood. I don't blame the cops, but that's what would have been done for a person subjected to the same abuse.

Why did I expect differently? With what I've seen, with what I've had to do, why would I possibly think that justice would be served by a jury? A jury that deliberated for 30 minutes, laughing through it. 7 hours of bs to hear that there was no evidence.

I admit, I'm furious now. I've called everyone that needs to know, folks waiting on the verdict. I'm at a total loss, here.

I have to try to look at the bright side...
1. He's going to have to face this allegation with every resume, every credit app, with any girl that does her homework;
2. He had to spend $10k for the legal representation. He'll be paying that off for years;
3. He spent over 3 months in jail waiting to bond out. Given what happened today, he might've even just gotten "time served" as a sentence, though I'd have been happier with that.
Not much of a bright side. Maybe he'll be so pissed at me, for putting his dumb ass all over the web that he'll have a jonz for a meetup. So long as he swings first...I ain't no 60 pound dog.

Big, big, big thanks and much love to all of you. All of my veg (and non-veg) DUers that sent the good vibes, good words, kudos and undeserved praise my way. You all help to make this a little easier to take, as I know you share some of my pain.

Big group hug...

Just keep me out of the anti-PETA and animal threads tonight, by gosh. :grouphug:

[yewberry]

10. Bright side?

"Dog" has lived happily ever after, blissfully unaware of all of this.

"Shithead" will never live this down, and--who knows?--maybe he even learned something.

"flvegan" did his very, very best and we all know it and thank him for it.

:hug:

[flvegan]

14. Thank you.

Yes, he's a happy boy now, and for better or worse, he's out of what probably would have been an even worse situation someday.

Yes, and he hasn't heard the last from me.

I'm nobody without everyone that stands behind the animals, and for them, stands behind me. Lots of folks wrote letters, e-mails, made calls...

Thank you.

[shockra]

11. Love back.

:hug:

It doesn't usually turn out the way we'd wish, does it?

[flvegan]

16. Rarely. Sadly.

There's just so much of it out there. I've seen too many cases of animal abuse go unpunished. I've also seen too many cases of abuse towards women...children...the elderly...go unpunished. At what point does someone believe "it's okay if I hurt you." anyway?

[shockra]

29. I think some only feel powerful when they're hurting others.

They don't get that there's more power in giving without expecting anything in return. The ripple effect is more powerful, even though it often doesn't feel that way. And can take a while to see.

Course I remember hearing that 1 in 20 people are sociopaths. If you don't learn empathy as a small child, when your brain is still developing, you're never going to.

[LeftyMom]

12. The jury laughed?

Wow. Just when I thought I couldn't dislike people more, I hear something like that.

:grr:

[flvegan]

17. Yeah.

I think that they found it funny that the defendant's "lawyer" called the girlfriend a "pothead" and they sorta drew a "white trash" parallel to parts of the testimony.

People disappoint me more often than I'd care to think.

[smbolisnch]

13. :(

I am sorry. You did such a great job though, and the dog is happy and healthy with deserving parents. :hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

:yourock:

[flvegan]

18. Yeah, and that's very important.

He'd have wound up in a bad place sooner or later. We won his battle, but lost the war, I guess. An abuser walks freely, and I think that I have the hardest time with that.

You hug Boo extra, extra hard tonight...

[City Lights]

15. Well that sure stinks.

It's really disgusting that the jury found this laughable. I'm impressed that you're even able to look for bright spots at this point.

:hug:

I'm happy for the dog. :-)

[flvegan]

20. I begged for a mistrial.

The short deliberation, the laughter...all grounds for it. Alas, they've spent all the time and money they wish to on it.

I have to look for the bright spots. Too much of what I do is deeply entrenched in darkness...

I'm happy for him too. He's got a wonderful mom and two cats that he just adores. They adore him. I need to remember that.

[City Lights]

21. You just brought tears to my eyes.

I'm happy for him too. He's got a wonderful mom and two cats that he just adores. They adore him. I need to remember that.

I'm such a sap.

[friesianrider]

19. Aww, sweetie.

That completely sucks...I'm so sorry it all ended this way.

But, your "bright side" listing is indeed cause to be at least somewhat relieved. You did what you could, caused him to pay in every way imaginable aside from further jailtime or fines. And, at least Dog is safe and doing well, that is important. Why society poo-poos animal cruelty is beyond comprehension. This won't be the last time this jerk was in trouble with the law, I'd guarantee it. Animal abusers aren't upstanding citizens in every other respect - far from it. Next time, it may be his new girlfriend and/or child.

You're such a wonderful person for all you do. :hug: As usual, I'm here if you ever need to talk :)

[flvegan]

23. Big thanks.

I'm hoping that there is no next time for him. I'd be really lost if I found out that he hurt another animal (human or non-human). He hasn't learned a lesson. He hasn't learned that you just can't strong-arm those less powerful than you. He needs to, before someone else gets hurt...or worse.

The bright side of that (I'm just FULL of bright sides, ain't I?) is that in my profession, I'm lucky enough to have alllll sorts of databases. I intend to shadow my little Shithead friend. He's gonna need a job, now. He's gonna need a place to live...a car...insurance...

Much love to you, friesianrider. Thank you!!

[friesianrider]

28. I don't blame you at all.

I would shadow that jerk, too. I'm sure many people in his life would be very interested to know he picks on defenseless creatures for fun.

Hang in there, my friend. We're all here for you :hug:

[livinginphotographs]

30. That sucks!

And when this guy puts his next girlfriend through a glass table, everyone will say, "We never saw it coming." :eyes:

Look at it this way - at least the dog is out of that situation. Let karma take care of this piece of guttertrash.

But if I'm ever in Florida, and you need help stomping this sack of shit, I'll be more than willing.

[CrispyQ]

31. It's tragic how hard it is to prosecute animal abuse perps.

It seems unless you link animal abusers to possible future human abuse, no one cares. Abusing an animal is wrong simply because it's wrong. It shouldn't matter that the animal's owner was high or that someday the abuser will move to human victims. Abusing an animal is wrong. It also exposes the really nasty side of human beings. A species that believes it is the pinnacle of creation should maintain higher standards of behavior. Somedays I hate the human collective.

You are to be commended for you effort & Dog is in a much better situation regardless of his abuser.

flvegan, :yourock:

[AFSCME girl]

33. We all love you too, flvegan,

and thank you for what you did for this pup and all the countless others that were fortunate enough to cross your path. :grouphug:

AFSCME girl

[Texasgal]

22. Geez...

That's horrible.

I am so sorry that you had to go through that, but on the bright side you have saved yet another animal from a shitty enviroment.

You have allllll my respect, your so awesome!

Keep up the good work, like I said in another thread, the world needs more people like you!

[flvegan]

24. Another animal saved, very true.

One of my mantras has always been, "well, it mattered to that one." It comes from the story of the girl on the beach with the starfish? I'm sure everyone here is aware of it. Matter of fact, that's going to be the name of our rescue's sanctuary, when it happens.

Right now, Dog, blissfully unaware of what transpired today, is probably on a couch with his mom, getting his belly rubbed while watching tv. Or, maybe he's keeping a watchful eye over her as she enjoys the company of family, or a date. Regardless, he's found his place. His happiness is more than worth my anguish.

And that's the bottom line...

[Ilsa]

25. Thanks. You did your best to make the world a better

place for a lovely animal, and when you do that for just one other being, you make the world a better place for everyone.

[peacebuzzard]

26. You are to be commended

There just aren't enough crusaders for the defenseless. Thank you for being you!:thumbsup: :yourock: :woohoo:

[kayleybeth]

27. So sorry flvegan

That just sucks. But you fought the good fight and did all you could. And at the end of the day, this dog is no longer being abused and has a happy home with people who love him. That's still a happy ending and you were the catalyst for that.

Thanks for all you do for the animals!

[AFSCME girl]

32. NO WAY! Dammit!

x( :cry:

[Gothic Sponge]

34. That sucks!

:mad: