Andrea Rosebrock 
On August 18, 2006, John W. Meyer, 41, of the 5100 block of Shotkoski Drive of Hoffman Estates IL, picked up a tiny, 4 lb, 7 month old Chihuahua puppy but its neck and threw it about 14 foot across the room into a wall for the crime of urinating on the rug!! Then he smacked the puppy so hard that he broke one of its rear legs then tossed it into its pen where it died in pain and agony. And he did this is full view of his two stepchildren, ages 9 and 12.
And the sentence for his crime of viciously and cruelly killing this tiny defenseless puppy? Probation!!
In July he was convicted of the felony aggravated animal abuse charge. His sentence could have been up to three years in prison.
Cook County Judge James Etchingham, a dog owner himself, said, “I can’t for the life of me fathom how any reasonable person could commit such a violent, despicable, depraved, mean act to a 4-pound toy Chihuahua.” But then he decided against a ‘real’ sentence and instead placed Meyer on two years’ probation and ordered him to do 40 hours of community service work.
Where is the justice in that?!
This is the judge who, when he found Meyer’s guilty, told him that it was clear that Meyer intentionally committed the act that led to the dog’s death. And yet he gives Meyer’s a little slap on the wrist so he can go out and do it again.
Oh, and I didn’t mention that Meyer’s arrest was also for choking the 12 yr old boy by grabbing his shirt collar and yanking, after he was told to clean up the dog’s urine and he didn’t move quickly enough. For this he was charged with a misdemeanor. Etchingham acquitted Meyer of this battery charge.
Sounds to me like he would have let him walk out with no sentence if he could have. Etchingham said state law defines aggravated cruelty to an animal as any act in which someone intentionally harms a pet, and he had no choice but to find Meyer guilty.
“I don’t believe for a moment … Meyer intended to kill the dog,” Etchingham said from the bench.
Yeah, that’s pretty evident from the sentence as well as the fact that you don’t give a damn that the life of an innocent and defenseless animal was ‘tossed’ away like nothing but garbage. And this Meyers can whine in court all day about personal problems, we all have them but we all don’t go around throwing tiny dogs against the wall then hitting them so hard it breaks bones or choking a child by his shirt collar because he doesn’t move fast enough! Many people don’t ‘intend’ to do things but when you snap, you’ve got a problem and when that problem results in the loss of life, even if it’s ‘just a dog,’ you deserve to be punished!
If he was truly sorry or remorseful he should have rushed the dog to a vet immediately rather than to leave it die in pain and agony. Like so many who do things like this, the only thing he was sorry about was that he might actually have to pay the price for his vicious cruelty, but looks like Etchingham took care of that!
Source – Chicago Sun-Times, Pet-Abuse
I can not tell you how I despise these lenient sentences even more than the abuse itself.
I have to admit that when reading this, I became so angry… this judge himself is a cruel man. He obvisously had not a care about the “real issue” here. What this man did to both the dog and the child are unexcusable and he should be in prison for more than three years. I don’t understand the laws… these sick people are getting away with abuse towards innocent animals. When will there be justice for animals? WHEN?
The judge needs to also be held accountable for sheer “competence”. Animal activists in his area should coordinate a HUGE rally and protest without relenting and ensure it is on the news and in the newspapers denouncing his actions, otherwise this will be swept under the rug as are many other “abominations” due to sheer apathy..
Sickening…simply sickening and utterly inexcusable.
These lenient sentences drive me crazy, too! What was that judge thinking anyway and Meyer also choked the 12 year old kid? This is just inexcusable.