7 year olds slit ducklings throats - General Discussion

stumblebum · 05-06-2007, 00:04

This has got to be one of the saddest things I have seen in my time as a Police Officer.
Tonight one of my team was called to a local primary school by a distressed parent.
The long and the short of it is...
The school have a pond where they keep pet ducks. One of them had 2 tiny ducklings all fluffy and yellow.
The daughter of the parent aged 8 is the "pond monitor" and had gone to check on the ducklings this evening.
When she got there she found her brother aged 7 & his friend aged 12 by the pond laughing. When they saw her they ran off - only for her to find that they had killed the babies by slitting their throats with a piece of glass and then kicked the mother duck to death

When she told their mother what they had done, the mother was so disgusted and distressed that she called the Police herself.

Its the first time as Sgt I have had to book in 2 dead ducklings into property as evidence

Good grief - what is the world coming to these days

Jillie Bean · 05-06-2007, 00:08

Sick little bastards.

A while back, there were a pair of swans sitting on a nest on the canal near to where I live. Some teenagers threw bricks at the female which of course killed her and consequently preventing their eggs from hatching.

These sick little shits make my blood well and truely boil.

whoever,hey · 05-06-2007, 00:14

That is so sick

Ruokasi · 05-06-2007, 00:17

What would happen to the boys?

Would they be sent for psychiatric help?

Will someone give them a good kicking?

Mark. · 05-06-2007, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruokasi

What would happen to the boys?

Would they be sent for psychiatric help?

I hope so.

Quote:

Will someone give them a good kicking?

I hope not.

shuddupfluffy · 05-06-2007, 00:28

The 12 year old is eligible for prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act (2007) which superseeded the Protection of Animals Act (1912)

The youngest person the RSPCA has prosecuted under these laws in my county was 11 years old when he killed a chicken in school grounds.

Ruokasi · 05-06-2007, 00:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by dundee_mark

I hope not.

Don't they deserve it though? Show them how the duck felt..

Mark. · 05-06-2007, 00:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruokasi

Don't they deserve it though? Show them how the duck felt..

No.

No human deserves corporal (or capital, but let's not go there) punishment, regardless of their crime. (And let's not go down the "but they aren't human" road either...)

shuddupfluffy · 05-06-2007, 00:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruokasi

Don't they deserve it though? Show them how the duck felt..

If it's wrong to cause an animal physical suffering, then surely it's wrong to cause the human that inflicted it, physical suffering as well!

05-06-2007, 00:37

There are some vile, sick monsters about.

The world would be a much better place without them. I live by a beck and a number of years ago a boy of seven drowned several newly-hatched Mallard ducklings. Other kids managed to save the other ducklings and threw them into the water, but their mother had already flown away after the boy had thrown stones thrown at her.

The other kids knew this boy and told his parents. I can safely say that he never went near the beck again.

Ruokasi · 05-06-2007, 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by dundee_mark

No.

No human deserves corporal (or capital, but let's not go there) punishment, regardless of their crime. (And let's not go down the "but they aren't human" road either...)

Not even just a slight dead leg?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuddupfluffy

If it's wrong to cause an animal physical suffering, then surely it's wrong to cause the human that inflicted it, physical suffering as well!

"An eye for an eye" and all that. Although, since that was intended to limit suffering, I don't feel we should let them have underage sex, to become fathers and then kill their babies with bits of glass.

seacam · 05-06-2007, 00:38

Hello Stumblebum

To reply I first have to digress, you'll see where I'm coming from.

Some time ago now, although he didn't know it at the time, I wanted to cut short a 10 day grounding I had given my son and asked him to watch a link provided by Snowfairy on animal cruelty.

My boy, 13 at the time, who has always grown up with animals had become involved and was an active participant with a group of lads who's idea of fun was arranging bouts of cock fighting an in one instance putting a captured fox in with a dog.

No one was more surprised then his Mother who found out when the police arrived, it also turned out that the lad had accumulated about £90-00 in bets over four months.

I was very angry, I saw no way forward, no way out, I sent the boy to his room, I simply asked him if what his Mother had told me was true and if at that moment he felt scared, he said yes.

The boy ended up with a sore backside and a grounding.

I didn't know it at the time but I caused some damage, no broken bones or anything like that but some bad bruising, even the wife changed tack and had a go at me, my other children wouldn't talk to me.

I can almost hear some of the animal lovers among you saying good, no more then he deserved and others saying how dare I do that to my child.

Later that evening I spoke to him and told him any fear he felt before I punished him or any pain he felt to his bottom, to remember because it was nothing compared to the fear and pain those birds and the fox felt and that by taking part, taking money he was as bad as the instigators.

To the boy's credit, according to his oldest sister, he burnt his winnings.

IMO both the 7 & 12 year old in your case need some tough love and a grounding.

I believe the link provided by Snowfairy should be shown in schools to children of 12+, I know it had a postitive and dramatic affect on my son, on me as well.

Ruokasi · 05-06-2007, 00:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacam

Hello Stumblebum

To reply I first have to digress, you'll see where I'm coming from.

Some time ago now, although he didn't know it at the time, I wanted to cut short a 10 day grounding I had given my son and asked him to watch a link provided by Snowfairy on animal cruelty.

My boy, 13 at the time, who has always grown up with animals had become involved and was an active participant with a group of lads who's idea of fun was arranging bouts of cock fighting an in one instance putting a captured fox in with a dog.

No one was more surprised then his Mother who found out when the police arrived, it also turned out that the lad had accumulated about £90-00 in bets over four months.

I was very angry, I saw no way forward, no way out, I sent the boy to his room, I simply asked him if what his Mother had told me was true and if at that moment he felt scared, he said yes.

The boy ended up with a sore backside and a grounding.

I didn't know it at the time but I caused some damage, no broken bones or anything like that but some bad bruising, even the wife changed tack and had a go at me, my other children wouldn't talk to me.

I can almost hear some of the animal lovers among you saying good, no more then he deserved and others saying how dare I do that to my child.

Later that evening I spoke to him and told him any fear he felt before I punished him or any pain he felt to his bottom, to remember because it was nothing compared to the fear and pain those birds and the fox felt and that by taking part, taking money he was as bad as the instigators.

To the boy's credit, according to his oldest sister, he burnt his winnings.

IMO both the 7 & 12 year old in your case need some tough love and a grounding.

I believe the link provided by Snowfairy should be shown in schools to children of 12+, I know it had a postitive and dramatic affect on my son, on me as well.

http://parenting.leehansen.com/Print...cate06-2th.jpg

dorydaryl · 05-06-2007, 00:42

This is truly horrific; I was choked on reading it. Not just about the duck family, but the sheer callousness and maliciousness of the two kids. I remember when I was a child and the local boys used to take pleasure in catching and crushing pigeons between bricks, so this isn't really a new phenomenon, sick as it is.

I've always felt the best way to treat people who destroy things is to take their most precious possession[s]- although nothing living of course-and completely trash them in front of them. If these little brats love their PS3s or whatever, I recommend that the parents smash the consoles against the wall and give away/sell the games.

seacam · 05-06-2007, 00:42

Edited
Posted twice

Mark. · 05-06-2007, 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruokasi

Not even just a slight dead leg?

Not even just a slight dead leg.

Quote:

"An eye for an eye" and all that.

And by inflicting pain on a child, that makes you better than him how, exactly?

Quote:

Although, since that was intended to limit suffering, I don't feel we should let them have underage sex, to become fathers and then kill their babies with bits of glass.

Ah, the old slippery slope fallacy.

And I think I also detect a straw man in there.

Ruokasi · 05-06-2007, 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by dundee_mark

Not even just a slight dead leg..

http://www.palmercash.com/images/pro...ls-dad-big.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by dundee_mark

And by inflicting pain on a child, that makes you better than him how, exactly?

Whats with this moral high ground - do you work for the NSPCC or something?

Mark. · 05-06-2007, 00:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruokasi

http://www.palmercash.com/images/pro...ls-dad-big.jpg

Considering I'm not a dad...

Quote:

Whats with this moral high ground - do you work for the NSPCC or something?

Yes, just like everyone else who thinks it's wrong to use corporal punishment.

SmartPrince · 05-06-2007, 00:57

It is disgusting and these children should be severely reprimanded.

But as a vegetarian, I note the double standards of those who think factory farming of birds is acceptable.

05-06-2007, 01:03

That is sick probably coordinated by the 12 year old

He needs councilling end off

Kicking the mother to death is more distressing

But to be fair its nature

Daisy Bennyboots · 05-06-2007, 01:04

Not just a silly prank that went wrong is it, slicing the heads off animals with glass? It's quite disturbing.

I hope some young person's mental health care professional gets to see the boys. I have to say that you see because it's the "PC" thing to say. If it was down to me, I'd intimdate the child to within an inch of it's life until it really knew fear then I'd ground them with zero previlages for six months. But I don't suppose that's a very popular notion these days it it. The kikds will probably get lines instead of football "I must not hurt the duckies, I must not hurt the duckies..."

SmartPrince · 05-06-2007, 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumblebum

This has got to be one of the saddest things I have seen in my time as a Police Officer.
Tonight one of my team was called to a local primary school by a distressed parent.
The long and the short of it is...
The school have a pond where they keep pet ducks. One of them had 2 tiny ducklings all fluffy and yellow.
The daughter of the parent aged 8 is the "pond monitor" and had gone to check on the ducklings this evening.
When she got there she found her brother aged 7 & his friend aged 12 by the pond laughing. When they saw her they ran off - only for her to find that they had killed the babies by slitting their throats with a piece of glass and then kicked the mother duck to death

When she told their mother what they had done, the mother was so disgusted and distressed that she called the Police herself.

Its the first time as Sgt I have had to book in 2 dead ducklings into property as evidence

Good grief - what is the world coming to these days

Personally, I think these children should stand in front of their whole schools and explain to all why they did it. Of course that will never happen.

creamsoda · 05-06-2007, 01:09

Thats awful, so sad, but what worries me is what these boys might be capable of in later years too. I was wondering if the 7 year old was led by the 12 year old, although this could of course be the other way around.

It was obviously the idea of one of them, and 7 year olds can be very easily led by much older boys. I think ten is the age when they say that a child can be prosecuted as this is when they should know right from wrong, but I do think it is younger than this. Most 7 year olds would know that this is terribly wrong, but would they understand the horror of it?
It worries me to what these boys may have been subjected to make them behave like this.

SmartPrince · 05-06-2007, 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dork Benedict

Not just a silly prank that went wrong is it, slicing the heads off animals with glass? It's quite disturbing.

I hope some young person's mental health care professional gets to see the boys. I have to say that you see because it's the "PC" thing to say. If it was down to me, I'd intimdate the child to within an inch of it's life until it really knew fear then I'd ground them with zero previlages for six months. But I don't suppose that's a very popular notion these days it it. The kikds will probably get lines instead of football "I must not hurt the duckies, I must not hurt the duckies..."

Yes I do agree. These are the sort of kids who would be school bullies. Where does it end? Ducks? Then cats? Then Jamie Bulgar. They need to feel sorry for what they have done. Not pretend to be sorry with some politically correct softy nannying social worker, but to really feel sorry.

.

shuddupfluffy · 05-06-2007, 01:13

According to law, 10 years old is the age of criminal responsibility - before that, you cannot be prosecuted.

The police are unlikely to take an animal cruelty prosecution - it doesn't happen very often at all. They leave it to the RSPCA.

If the RSPCA take a prosecution, thye have to fund it themselves and hardly ever get the costs back. It takes a lot to actually push to prosecution because they have to be as sure as they can be that they will get a guilty verdict to justify the cost incurred.

05-06-2007, 00:04	#1
stumblebum Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: ♀ Hampshire Services: Experience is something you get 10 seconds after you needed it Posts: 4,983 Blog Entries: 6	7 year olds slit ducklings throats This has got to be one of the saddest things I have seen in my time as a Police Officer. Tonight one of my team was called to a local primary school by a distressed parent. The long and the short of it is... The school have a pond where they keep pet ducks. One of them had 2 tiny ducklings all fluffy and yellow. The daughter of the parent aged 8 is the "pond monitor" and had gone to check on the ducklings this evening. When she got there she found her brother aged 7 & his friend aged 12 by the pond laughing. When they saw her they ran off - only for her to find that they had killed the babies by slitting their throats with a piece of glass and then kicked the mother duck to death When she told their mother what they had done, the mother was so disgusted and distressed that she called the Police herself. Its the first time as Sgt I have had to book in 2 dead ducklings into property as evidence Good grief - what is the world coming to these days

05-06-2007, 00:08	#2
Jillie Bean Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: elm street Services: handshandies: gloves off - £5, gloves on - gratis Posts: 688	Sick little bastards. A while back, there were a pair of swans sitting on a nest on the canal near to where I live. Some teenagers threw bricks at the female which of course killed her and consequently preventing their eggs from hatching. These sick little shits make my blood well and truely boil.

05-06-2007, 00:14	#3
whoever,hey Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Services: Toppy, Quad Vista 64, PS3 Posts: 18,549	That is so sick

05-06-2007, 00:17	#4
Ruokasi Banned User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Bristol, England. Services: Piracy. Trolling. Posts: 3,360	What would happen to the boys? Would they be sent for psychiatric help? Will someone give them a good kicking?

05-06-2007, 00:28	#6
shuddupfluffy Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: in my house with a coffee Services: cleaner and a man-friday! Posts: 846	The 12 year old is eligible for prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act (2007) which superseeded the Protection of Animals Act (1912) The youngest person the RSPCA has prosecuted under these laws in my county was 11 years old when he killed a chicken in school grounds.

05-06-2007, 00:37	#10
cute chick Posts: n/a	There are some vile, sick monsters about. The world would be a much better place without them. I live by a beck and a number of years ago a boy of seven drowned several newly-hatched Mallard ducklings. Other kids managed to save the other ducklings and threw them into the water, but their mother had already flown away after the boy had thrown stones thrown at her. The other kids knew this boy and told his parents. I can safely say that he never went near the beck again.

05-06-2007, 00:38	#12
seacam Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 7,474	Hello Stumblebum To reply I first have to digress, you'll see where I'm coming from. Some time ago now, although he didn't know it at the time, I wanted to cut short a 10 day grounding I had given my son and asked him to watch a link provided by Snowfairy on animal cruelty. My boy, 13 at the time, who has always grown up with animals had become involved and was an active participant with a group of lads who's idea of fun was arranging bouts of cock fighting an in one instance putting a captured fox in with a dog. No one was more surprised then his Mother who found out when the police arrived, it also turned out that the lad had accumulated about £90-00 in bets over four months. I was very angry, I saw no way forward, no way out, I sent the boy to his room, I simply asked him if what his Mother had told me was true and if at that moment he felt scared, he said yes. The boy ended up with a sore backside and a grounding. I didn't know it at the time but I caused some damage, no broken bones or anything like that but some bad bruising, even the wife changed tack and had a go at me, my other children wouldn't talk to me. I can almost hear some of the animal lovers among you saying good, no more then he deserved and others saying how dare I do that to my child. Later that evening I spoke to him and told him any fear he felt before I punished him or any pain he felt to his bottom, to remember because it was nothing compared to the fear and pain those birds and the fox felt and that by taking part, taking money he was as bad as the instigators. To the boy's credit, according to his oldest sister, he burnt his winnings. IMO both the 7 & 12 year old in your case need some tough love and a grounding. I believe the link provided by Snowfairy should be shown in schools to children of 12+, I know it had a postitive and dramatic affect on my son, on me as well.

05-06-2007, 00:42	#14
dorydaryl Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Pracataaaaaaaaan!!!! Services: Hay-looooo, ees it me you lookin' foooouuuur? Posts: 4,493 Blog Entries: 1	This is truly horrific; I was choked on reading it. Not just about the duck family, but the sheer callousness and maliciousness of the two kids. I remember when I was a child and the local boys used to take pleasure in catching and crushing pigeons between bricks, so this isn't really a new phenomenon, sick as it is. I've always felt the best way to treat people who destroy things is to take their most precious possession[s]- although nothing living of course-and completely trash them in front of them. If these little brats love their PS3s or whatever, I recommend that the parents smash the consoles against the wall and give away/sell the games.

05-06-2007, 00:57	#19
SmartPrince Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 2,214	It is disgusting and these children should be severely reprimanded. But as a vegetarian, I note the double standards of those who think factory farming of birds is acceptable.

05-06-2007, 01:03	#20
Harry Barry Posts: n/a	That is sick probably coordinated by the 12 year old He needs councilling end off Kicking the mother to death is more distressing But to be fair its nature

05-06-2007, 01:04	#21
Daisy Bennyboots Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Jedwardland. Posts: 12,057 Blog Entries: 4	Not just a silly prank that went wrong is it, slicing the heads off animals with glass? It's quite disturbing. I hope some young person's mental health care professional gets to see the boys. I have to say that you see because it's the "PC" thing to say. If it was down to me, I'd intimdate the child to within an inch of it's life until it really knew fear then I'd ground them with zero previlages for six months. But I don't suppose that's a very popular notion these days it it. The kikds will probably get lines instead of football "I must not hurt the duckies, I must not hurt the duckies..."

05-06-2007, 01:09	#23
creamsoda Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,740	Thats awful, so sad, but what worries me is what these boys might be capable of in later years too. I was wondering if the 7 year old was led by the 12 year old, although this could of course be the other way around. It was obviously the idea of one of them, and 7 year olds can be very easily led by much older boys. I think ten is the age when they say that a child can be prosecuted as this is when they should know right from wrong, but I do think it is younger than this. Most 7 year olds would know that this is terribly wrong, but would they understand the horror of it? It worries me to what these boys may have been subjected to make them behave like this.

05-06-2007, 01:13	#25
shuddupfluffy Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: in my house with a coffee Services: cleaner and a man-friday! Posts: 846	According to law, 10 years old is the age of criminal responsibility - before that, you cannot be prosecuted. The police are unlikely to take an animal cruelty prosecution - it doesn't happen very often at all. They leave it to the RSPCA. If the RSPCA take a prosecution, thye have to fund it themselves and hardly ever get the costs back. It takes a lot to actually push to prosecution because they have to be as sure as they can be that they will get a guilty verdict to justify the cost incurred.