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Had it been a person he kicked, Mr. Robinson, 22, most likely would have received a quick plea bargain requiring no jail time — if, that is, he had even been arrested. And had he kicked that gray cat a few years ago, a similar outcome might have awaited him.

But now, every time Mr. Robinson has appeared in court in Brooklyn, animal-rights activists have surrounded him, attending his hearings and calling for a jail sentence. He has not even received a plea offer from prosecutors — extremely rare in misdemeanor cases.

Mr. Robinson, with one seemingly unconsidered kick, has unwittingly placed himself at the center of an impassioned, growing debate.

On one side are the activists. Once dismissed as cat ladies or fringe do-gooders, they have come to wield real power through funding, organization and a focus on legal remedies for animal abuse. They have embraced social-media campaigns; offered rewards to potential witnesses to animal abuse; trained prosecutors; and made inroads in pushing law enforcement across the country to arrest, and seek jail time for, animal abusers.

Yet lawyers defending the accused say that punishment in such cases can seem disproportionate to the crime when an animal is the victim.

At the moment, the activists seem to be winning the fight. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this month that it would track animal abuse as a separate crime, rather than lumping it in the “other” category.

In New York City, the Police Department took over responsibility for animal abuse complaints in January, and created an Animal Cruelty Investigation Squad. Arrests for animal abuse increased about 250 percent through September, compared with the same period last year.

And the Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, said the Robinson case, which is to go to trial on Wednesday, was “indicative of my determination to be strong on folks who think they can just abuse any type of animal.”

People who consume meat products is not that much different than torturing animals. Don't see anyone crying over it.

People who abuse animals are one step away from doing the same to people. This sick individual took great joy in inflicting serious injury to this cat,  and even went out of his way to lure the cat in to do it. Do I object to jail time for him? Absolutely not - but I do agree that part of his sentence should be public service at an animal shelter - under the closest of supervision, of course.

But even if he did kick someone, the penalty is not a prison term. There is a reason why this country has the most people in the penal system, and the reason is that they do not think that there are alternatives to imprisonment, when to me it is obvious that there are.

A common thread that links most serial killers is deliberate animal abuse. When someone lures an animal in order to do that animal harm, he is an obvious danger to society. BTW, this is not about race . White guys do it too.

Overkill or deserved? I for one cannot see how/who it helps to imprison anyone for animal cruelty. Couldn't the people who abuse animals learn a better lesson if sentenced to working for animals? Wouldn't the activists gain more if these people are put into service of animals?

No one brought up race but you.

What is this man doing kicking a cat?  That is animal abuse!!!!!  I would severely beat any person who kicked my cat.  He deserves any punishment he gets!!!!!!

What is this man doing kicking a cat?  That is animal abuse!!!!!  I would severely beat any person who kicked my cat.  He deserves any punishment he gets!!!!!!

I, too, once looked at these animal rights activists as pesky nuisances. In part, because they're usually one dimensional and lack the same concern for human life. However, the degenerate that would go out of their way to hurt a cat or dog or not brake when ducks are crossing the road deserves some type of societal consequences whether it be imprisonment or ostracism. Under the current paradigm, some sort of work program and rehabilitation in prison should help the situation but in a more free market system ostracism and/or a behind the scenes ass beating might suffice.

Poor people sent to jail for kicking a cat... while rich people like Curt Johnson let off for sexually molesting little girls... great... this world is moving in the right direction.

 He's not getting sent to jail.

These New York statutes comprise the state's anti-cruelty provisions.  "Animal" includes every living creature except a human being.  A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by both.  Exclusions include properly conducted scientific tests, experiments or investigations, involving the use of living animals approved by the state commissioner of health.

 He is facing a year maximum but the current buzz is over the fact that he wasn't offered a plea bargain.  The burden of proof is on the state and the cat is alive and seemingly well so they aren't going to throw the book at him.  


 Johnson's step daughter refused to testify or release her medical records so they wouldnt have had much evidence had the case gone to trial.  In the case of cat-kicker Robinson, there's a video account of the incident posted on social media.  Also, Johnson got 4 years in prison.  So what you wrote has no basis in fact.

I would probably give them a shorter jail sentence to be fair, since it was only a kick but I do agree the psychopaths need much harsher punishments, I don't think it really matters though to be honest, you don't use violence against other people to take out your anger so why do it on animals?

You don't eat other people either. The hypocrisy and willful blindness to contradictions in how we treat animals makes no sense. What makes a cat different than a cow that kicking the first warrants jail time while slaughtering millions of the second is fine?

It's not fine, never said it was, however do you actually know about the steps that law abiding people have to take now in order to make sure that the animals are slaughtered quickly so they aren't in much pain when it happens? Since in the UK they actually knock them out with electricity you could argue that they don't even notice by the time it's done. Eating meat though and torturing animals are two different things and if you can't see that then you're quite naive, as I said before, you think a lion is going to give a shit whether you eat animals or not? That self-righteousness isn't going to save you if you come across something carnivorous.

Also, there's plenty of hypocrisy in the way laws towards human beings are enforced, or did you not glance at the section you just posted in for five seconds? These days filesharers get more jail time than murderers and then you have cases of assault being completely ignored and everyone just hoping it goes away, that cat has more rights than people being assaulted do currently ironically and it's because these people don't have an army of lobbyists and prosecutors fighting for them.

Pretty sure there are standards regarding the treatment of farm animals too, especially where I live, but yeah, you can keep insinuating all meat eaters are evil if you like and not have anyone take you seriously because of it, when I look at my diet I actually don't even eat that much meat to begin with LOL.

Poor people sent to jail for kicking a cat... while rich people like Curt Johnson let off for sexually molesting little girls... great... this world is moving in the right direction.