No second chance for killer of exotic birds at zoo

[Lisa B]

This is near me and I contacted the zoo directly to offer help with putting these criminals behind bars.


No second chance for killer of exotic birds at zoo
Saturday, July 03, 2004
By Maryann Spoto
Star-Ledger Staff

Spared a prison sentence once, one of three men who fatally beat
several exotic birds at a South Jersey zoo last year was ordered
yesterday to serve his time behind bars because he violated his
probation by using heroin.

Thomas Cavanaugh, 19, of Forked River was initially given a
probationary sentence in April so he could enter treatment for his
alcohol and drug addictions. But yesterday, Superior Court Judge
Edward Turnbach in Toms River said Cavanaugh lost his one break and
will have to serve up to five years in a youth correctional facility
in Yardville.

Wiping away tears with hands shackled to his waist, Cavanaugh pleaded
with Turnbach to give him a second chance.

"I been doing drugs for seven years," he said before sentencing.
"It's easy to fall back and get in trouble. But it's kind of hard to
do good. I been trying so hard."

His attorney, Assistant Ocean County Public Defender Kevin Young,
said a setback is not unusual among people seeking drug treatment. He
said his client had remained drug-free for 10 months, had earned his
high school equivalency diploma and had taken parenting classes to
help care for his newborn child.

However, Turnbach, who had been under intense pressure to imprison
the three culprits at their April sentencings, said Cavanaugh knew he
had one chance.

"I don't think there was any doubt in your mind ... that if you did
violate your probation, there was only one place you would go, and we
both know it's not out the back door," the judge said.

Cavanaugh, Matthew Mercuro of Waretown and Matthew Ronneberg of Forked
River, both also 19, admitted to going on a rampage May 18, 2003, that
started with stoning a goose at an Ocean County park and ended with
the killing of eight exotic birds at the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey
Township.

All three were sentenced to probationary terms because Turnbach said
they could get more supervision through the probation system while
receiving addiction treatment.

Cavanaugh was kicked out of Integrity House in Newark on May 28 after
admitting he used heroin twice. Mercuro also faces allegations of
violating his probation after he was charged in Waretown two weeks
ago with driving while intoxicated.

After court yesterday, Roseann Trezza, executive director of the
Associated Humane Societies, which runs the zoo, said she believes
the trio should have been sentenced to prison originally.

"It should have been done back then," she said. "(Turnbach) gave them
an opportunity and it didn't work. The system didn't work."

Cavanaugh's fiancée, Desiré Burns, said Cavanaugh expected to go to
prison when he reported to his probation officer after being expelled
from Integrity House.

"We knew he was going away," she said. "We sat in the car and said
goodbye."

Send your comments to: Letters to the Editor: eletters@ starledger.com

[SavvyMoon]

I live just a few miles from the Popcorn Park Zoo, and have gone there and supported them with donations for more than 20 yrs....
It is a disgrace and a shame what happened there to those poor birds.

But prison for those guys will never bring back those birds.
Prison will never "rehabilitate" those boys (now men); more than likely
just make them more bitter and meaner than when they went in.

They are emotionally twisted people who need HELP, not prison (IMO)

I can't see sentencing them to long prison terms, when child molestors and rapists, and drunk drivers who kill *people* in accidents many times don't get prison terms.
What they did was cruel and heartless, and yes- maybe would have led to even more horrible acts against people down the road...

But they were animals, not people. And frankly sending them to prison will not guarentee they will not come out even more bitter and violent and then harm PEOPLE at that point....

It's a tough call, I admit. The justice system is very skewed,

[Joel]

I say a few seconds in your cauldron Savvy ought to rehabilitate them, maybe even a few minutes for the tougher ones :).

IMO, rehabilitation has to be done somewhere and it might as well be behind prison walls where supposedly everyone (human & animal) is safe, at least temporarily. Once they get out, then if they commit any more violent crimes, I say put them away for a much longer time in additon to having them pay off monetarily (10 fold) to the people they harmed or to the keepers of the animals they harmed.

Maybe every prison should have huge aviaries and every criminal in there should have their turn interacting daily with the birds & in keeping the avairies clean and in food preparation etc. etc.......After such experiences with such wonderful creatures, their hearts should be softened somewhat, I think. Maybe one of the requirements for each prisoner (in order to be released) could be that each prisoner must tame/rehabilitate a wild, nasty, biting, abused parrot or sumpin lik dat.......Just some idle thoughts on a hot humid afternoon. :)

[Crebain]

Prison is a scam and a farce in USA. Building prisons and filling them up with young black men, along with prison labor, has become "big business". Between 1974 and 2002 prison population went from 216,000 to 1.4 million. And between 1980-1990 drug busts almost doubled.

There is no social stigma associated with prison time, and higher-ups are getting rich off of our so-called "war on drugs". Not us taxpayers, though, we shelled out $49 billion for corrections in 1999.

As for these dirt bags ... caning, ala Singapore, would do the trick.

[yehudasf]

To jail with these cretins!

Any person who has dealt with violent criminals can attest to the findings of every study on serial killers, recidivist sex abusers (especially ofchildren, elderly and the physically handicapped) that point out, time-and-again, that these vile wastes of protoplasm always start out by abusing, torturing, and murdering animals.

To falsely assert that this filth should be shown "mercy" because their victims were not bipedal hominids is at best disingenuous, and at worst severely delusional. This sort of scum awaits only the opportunity to inflict the same sort of horror on any human victim they perceive as helpless, or easily murdered.
Check the FBI site for the statistics... http://www.fbi.gov Don't waste any pity on vermin of this sort. Save the emotional outpouring for the victims, human and otherwise, of this vile urethral ejecta.

[SavvyMoon]

Originally Posted by Crebain

Prison is a scam and a farce in USA. Building prisons and filling them up with young black men, along with prison labor, has become "big business". Between 1974 and 2002 prison population went from 216,000 to 1.4 million. And between 1980-1990 drug busts almost doubled.

There is no social stigma associated with prison time, and higher-ups are getting rich off of our so-called "war on drugs". Not us taxpayers, though, we shelled out $49 billion for corrections in 1999.

As for these dirt bags ... caning, ala Singapore, would do the trick.

Doesn't sound like a "rant" to me... makes sense.
My first reaction to the bird killing story was someone should take those boys and beat the crap out of them so they could suffer too....
But yanno, ya gotta be "civil" right?

Prison IS big business for some, and racially biased oppression for others.
I'd like to know why big rich hollywood stars can routinely take care of their drug addictions by checking into posh rehab centers; complete with spas, pools and weight rooms, while some shmoe on the street who gets caught selling a little weed to make ends meet gets 3 yrs prison time in some states...

And lets not forget all the white collar criminals who grab high powered lawyers to get them off, while poorer people get stuck with incompetent court appointed lawyers who couldn't give a rats a$$ what happens to them...

The world is not a "fair" place most of the time.

::: Savvy takes a deep breath and says, Ooooohhhmmmmmmmm ::::

[The Outlaw]

I have a real problem with sugar coating anything. Frankly, I think they should have the **** kicked out of them and then start making restitution the hard way. Let them work their spoiled butts off doing some filthy, lousy menial work for 5 years. Teach them how to shovel elephant crap and build some invasion proof enclosures for the same animals they felt obliged to bludgeon to death. Frankly, in a perfect world, they'd lose at least a hand if I had my way. There cannot be justice. I'd settle for a little torture "just for kicks".

THE OUTLAW

[SavvyMoon]

Just for the record, the guys who killed those birds were ready to do
whatever volunteer work with animals, or in the zoo in some other capacity, as part of their probationary restitution...
It was suggested by their lawyers and agreed to by them.
The zoo refused their offer.
They also offered to work at other animal shelters or rescues,
and that too wasn't accepted by anyone.

These three were already tried -and convicted- for their crimes
against those poor animals. They were not sentenced to
any real prison time.
They cannot be tried again, nor can their original sentence be changed.

Calling, writing letters, blazing editorials, vocal indignation
(no matter how righteous).... all wasted effort.
What's done is done, as far as that goes.

The only question now is, what to do with one of them;
since he seems to have a real problem with substance abuse,
and breaking his probation.
This is the issue for him now.... has very little to do with what actually happened at the zoo.

Also, if I remember correctly a little side note buried in
the back pages of our local newspaper, they pretty much
DID get the **** kicked out of them in jail, by other inmates.
Justice dealt amongst your peers, eh?

I don't feel sorry for them, at all.
I also didn't say to show them "mercy"....
I just said that Prison will never bring those birds back,
and probably wouldn't address their (the criminals') real
problems, either.
If we're not going to KILL these criminals, (and we're not)
we have to THINK about helping and rehabilitating them, don't we?
They will be out amongst us again, real soon....

Savvy*

[The Outlaw]

No, we sure as hell don't. It doesn't work, its a waste of time and money to even try. Drug abuse, like most other criminal behavior, is a CHOICE. Since they obviously make bad choices, perhaps others should make choices for them for the rest of their miserable lives. I have no sympathy and no mercy for these who have simply "come out" in the open with their crimes. How many other things did they get away with? How many more in the future? You know, I sometimes think that when we find these pigs, we should revoke their citizenship and send them packing. Perhaps some of our critics would welcome them. Frankly, that would be just fine with me. The next time when the joined up with the "enemy" no one would flinch when a soldier put a bullet between their eyes.

THE OUTLAW