HONOLULU (KHON2) — A 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after prosecutors say he was caught on video abusing a puppy. Animal advocates say his arrest highlights the need for tougher penalties in these cases.
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The puppy is now resting and is said to be doing okay. She’s the dog that was seen in the now viral video swinging by her hind legs. Authorities say it was Geronomy Ezra who swung the dog.
“It’s horrifying to us as animal advocates to see any animal being abused,” said Steph Kendrick, Hawaiian Humane Society director of community engagement. “And our frontline teams, our field services officers, they have to encounter things like this on a fairly regular basis.”
Ezra was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals in the second degree, which right now is a misdemeanor. But animal advocates, like the Hawaiian Humane Society, are working with lawmakers to push certain instances to a Class B Felony.
“It’s a source of enormous frustration for our officer team that our judicial system doesn’t take these cases more seriously and this is not a new pattern,” Kendrick said.
Honolulu Police say there were 58 animal cruelty cases in 2018, and 73 In 2023. In the past 2 years, the Humane Society says six animal cruelty cases were dismissed by the courts with no penalties.
“In one case, a woman pled no contest for abuse that was caught on video by a neighborhood camera on a neighboring property,” Kendrick said. “And she not only wasn’t punished, but she got the animal back into her custody.”
The bill also cites psychological studies that say 70% of violent criminals started by abusing animals.
The one silver lining is that because this incident was caught on video, she was able to be saved and an arrest was made quickly.
“Oh, no doubt the community is fed up,” Kendrick said. “And, you know, our staff being at the front lines, that’s very much shares their frustration.”
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“It’s our hope that our lawmakers and our judicial system are watching and and appreciating the magnitude of the community frustration about this,” Kendrick said.
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