Assistant Fire Chief is Convicted on Animal Cruelty, fair or not fair?
By Aurone
@Aurone (4755)
United States
January 26, 2010 4:22pm CST
The L.A. Country assistant fire chief, Glynn Johnson, was convicted today of beating a 6 month old puppy to death. He beat the dog 10 times with his fist and then pounded the German Shepard mix, Carly, with a rock. He faces up to 4 years in prison. He says he was defending himself against the dog, and the owners of the dog and the prosecutors say it was a clear case of animal cruelty. Obviously, the jury agreed since Mr. Johnson was convicted. Do you think the judgement was fair. Do you think he should get all 4 years in prison.
Here is the link to one of the original write-ups for the story before the verdict. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=6569061 (not a referral link).
Personally, I think animal cruelty goes unpunished too often. If he really did beat the puppy to death for no reason he should get the max of 4 years, but on the flip side he is a fire fighter of 31 years. Its sort of hard to reconcile those two facts together. Tell me what you think. Do you think the verdict would have been different had the puppy been a cat or kitten?
2 people like this
6 responses
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
26 Jan 10
That's disgusting, I don't care who he is. When you're a firefighter, you're suppose to be saving lives, not beating them, whether they're human or not. I wouldn't want him coming to my house to save my cat, that's for sure.
A six month old puppy, and he says he was defending himself? Puleeze!!!!! That's disgracious, and can't even face up to what he did, using that for an excuse. I think it's high time they start punishing these people to the max for the cruelty they put these poor animals through. He could have easily handled that dog, even I could at six months, give me break.
1 person likes this
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
27 Jan 10
I think the newspaper article is missing info, I would have liked to hear the whole case. I think those dogs can be pretty big at that age, although since it seemed to be a family dog, I don't think it would have attacked without reason.
He should know better how to handle a scared dog since he rescues animals from fires. I think if he really did this thoughtless act, he should get the max. I don't think animal cruelty laws are enforced enough.
1 person likes this
You're right!
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
27 Jan 10
Even if he needed to defense himself, wasn't he trained to deal with animals?
They have professional training how to deal with animal attack, for sure not they way it was described....poor little dog...
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
27 Jan 10
Yes, I think he should get and serve all 4 years.
He claims the dog "attacked" him and that justified his actions. Wrong! This was a six month old puppy. Puppies do "nip" when they are playing and they need to be taught not to do this. So, it is very likely the puppy did nip at his leg. But, he seriously overreacted. Normally, a slap on the snout and a sharp "no" are all that are needed to stop this behavior. If that did not work, all he had to do was grab the dog by the scruff of his neck and pick him up to prevent further nipping until the owners could take their dog inside. As a firefighter, he should have enough strength to easily do that, even with a 50 - 60 pound dog.
After he started hitting the dog with a closed fist, any additional scratches or bites were self defense on the dog's part.
The fact that he is a firefighter and assistant fire chief have nothing to do with his temper or private behavior. Many animal abusers, wife and child beaters, and pedophiles are highly respected members of their communitities until they get caught.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
28 Jan 10
I can't help thinking there must be more to the story. Since this was a family pet of those owners and not a stray dog, I can't help he had to have provoked it somehow..I mean a pet doesn't attack without reason. As a firefighter he probably had some training in rescuing pets from buildings on fire and they would be scared out of their minds. Nope there's something more to it in my mind. I'm glad though that he may face up to four years in prison, unfortunately he'll probably get off somehow. Look at Michael Vick who ran a dog fighting business...he not only got a sort of slap on the risk, did community service (big deal), but was allowed to go back into football--now THAT was NOT justice
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
1 Feb 10
To me, it doesn't matter what position he holds in the community it does not exempt him from the same rules that we all must play by. Actually, I think that people use their position in the community to get away with too much. In fact, they should be held to a higher standing since they are role models for our young.
