Thyren Justus has been charged with cruelty to an animal after allegedly beating his dog to death. The bottom photo was found on Justus’ Facebook, where it was posted as his profile picture in January.
You know, sometimes there’s something that just pisses you off SO MUCH that you just have to share it with someone else, so they can be pissed off, too.
This is one of those things.
Dallas Police arrested Thyren Justus, 35, on Sunday and charged him with cruelty to a non-livestock animal (torture), after he allegedly beat his dog to death. Justus bonded out later that day.
According to WFAA Channel 8, police went to Justus’ home on Wheeler Street early Sunday morning after an anonymous caller reported hearing a dog barking and crying and loud banging and stomping coming from the home. They found a small black-and-white dog dead in the bathroom. It had a broken leg and a cracked skull. At first Justus told the officers he came home from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and found the dog dead, then he changed his story to claim the dog was running around outside and collapsed.
In his third version, Justus, who was crying when officers arrived and telling them his dog was dead, said the dog had used the bathroom in its kennel, and that he scolded the pup by popping it on the nose and shaking it. He said he put the dog in the shower to try and revive it.
About a year ago, the FBI announced plans to prosecute animal cruelty as a “crime against society,” which is a felony. The new categorization went into effect at the first of this year, allowing the agency to begin tracking and collecting information about incidents of animal cruelty and the perpetrators, according to DogTime.com. Part of the reasoning behind the recategorization, BarkPost.com has noted, is that being cruel to animals is believed to be a key behavioral indicator of other crimes and that there have been numerous studies showing the link between animal abuse and serial killers and domestic abusers. Collecting information on animal abusers will allow law enforcement agencies and researchers to understand the factors associated with animal abuse.
