Nobody loves animals, especially horses, more than I do...and nobody gets angrier than I do when folks abuse/torture/kill any animal needlessly but calls for prison rape, bestiality and death are part of society's problem not part of a solution...yes, sociopathic behavior is often preceeded by animal abuse but to generalize that every young person who kills an animal will become a serial killer is absurd. These appear to be semi-intelligent young folks who committed a horrible, indefensible act of cruelty...they deserve punishment but they also need to learn to respect life...all life. We teach kids at an early age to shoot guns and to hunt...part of the macho bonding experience (and yes, even girls play today), it isn't surprising that once a young person loses respect for life that he/she is then able to rationalize such behavior! Punish these kids in a constructive manner...community service, therapy along with perhaps some incarceration...it is the role of society to teach our children, not brutalize and kill them!

John,

I respectfully disagree. I have been taught from a young age about hunting and I have to tell you, there is a HUGE difference between hunting an animal and killing it humanely and brutally murdering a horse for "fun." In fact, I have YET to meet a hunter that enjoys watching an animal suffer. Perhaps I'm lucky that I haven't? These kids will most likely never understand the difference and therefore, IMO, they should have the strictest of penalties bestowed upon them.

There's a big difference between doing somthing ''stupid'' and being a flat out cold-blooded killer. I've done tons of stupid things in my life as a youth, but it didn't involve another living things death for my stupid, youthful pleasure. I hardly think 17 is a child, he was fully able to make the decision between right and wrong, he chose wrong. I can only thank God those weren't my horses, cause than we wouldn't even have to worry about what to do to them, their families would be planning their funerals.

i don't think that would do much good. i think it would be productive to give them some jail time, and then do some directed community service (and a lot of it) in which they helped animals out in some capacity. make them work at an animal shelter or something along those lines where they can do some good for animals for a really long time.
if they screw that up.....lock them back up.

A bunch of white trash hillbillies kill beautiful innocent animals and severely injury others, and this isnt the problem with society, its the people who think they should go to prision or be put to sleep thats the real problem in society.
Okay, what time does Buffy the Vampire start?

make them work at an animal shelter or something along those lines where they can do some good for animals for a really long time.

Brilliant idea. Put more defenseless animals in danger. And I thought George Bush had some bad ideas!

well you are right about bush.....but i doubt they would be stupid enough to do more harm if they knew that their work was being watched and that there would be severe prison terms for any such behavior.

Well you may "hardly think 17 is a child", but under the law (and its a good law) 18+ is when you are considered an adult. These laws are in place because the brain of a CHILD doesnt think like the brian of an adult.

Obviously these kids werent thinking at all... Im not saying there should be no consequence, but I think some restitution, education, and profesional help is the correct punishment.

I personally dont think anybody under 18 should ever be tried as an adult, regardless of the crime they commit. No exceptions

Believe me, I'd feel the same way...but honestly, when kids do cruel things like this, I think there has to be more of a reason than stupidity. While I agree that they need to "pay" for what they did...our culture's mindless emphasis on punishing behavior rather than addressing the causes of same are counterproductive. They are indeed responsible for what they did...but then what? We need laws protecting the defenseless, be they animal or human but we would be so much better off if such laws were not needed...closing the barn door after the horses run off only gets you an empty barn...the emphasis should be on education and teaching moral principles...the lesson these kids need to learn is not that society will punish them for such an act but that their conscience will!!!

Adulthood is a slippery subject...using a numerical constant doesn't take into account developmental differences nonetheless, I agree in principle...again, deciding when some person is "old enough" to punish or kill sorta misses the point imo!

OK Gander, I'm not going to respond to that rather personal attack...I understand you don't agree with me...I'll watch Buffy and you watch whatever you enjoy, it's interesting what folks feel obligated to bring up when they disagree with me...Blockhead felt necessary to attack my religious beliefs, I guess in your mind watching a TV show is grounds for ridicule...I'll consider you and he of like minds.

I dont even think John Lee Malvo should have gotten the sentence he recieved , and he killed people

At some point they will rot in Hell.

Well, I don't believe in hell but I do believe we all "pay" for everything we do (good or bad)...and since I don't believe in the death penaltyy, I concur with The Bid.

Agreed. I guess that will have to be good enough.

Shock treaments work for me! Whoever said these kind of people graduate to more violence and killing is right.....nip it in the bud!

They are going to rot in hell based on what... I know of very few religions that throw you straight to hell for killing an animal. And are we really debating whether to kill these two kids for killing a couple of horses. Was it wrong... of course its wrong and very grotesque, but that doesn't me we should strap them to the chair and fry them. What else should we kill people for?

Definitely some type of pyschological exam and treatment is needed.

LOL Chad... I was being facetious in regards to killing them, but they definitely need (and deserve) a harsher punishment than what some are proposing. IMO, they deserve to rot in hell for being heartless. The kind of person that would do that is a vicious person indeed.

i'm with cajun on this one john. no way does taking a child hunting or fishing parlay into no respect for life, or for abusing animals.
i've taken in a goodly amount of ditched animals, dogs and cats. believe me, i have huge respect for life. as do my children and my husband.

I realize much in this thread is "tongue-in-cheek" nevertheless, the viciousness of the "recommendations" causes me more concern than the act.
For those folks who believe in hell and see it as a place of eternal torment, sentencing anyone to such a fate...well, that's why they burned witches in the past...cause they believed that such actions insured that they would burn in hell.