[zatorskijoan]

I hadn't heard this story until coming upon it here and my heart lodged in my throat just thinking about how many beings were injured by this tragedy: first and most outrageously, the poor, poor Yorkie victim/ the traumatized grandparents/ the veterinarian and vet staff who had to fight to maintain their professionalism & focus on caring for the dog's injuries when their hearts were screaming with rage/ the young man's parents who feel mortified, confused, and torn by loyalties and the reality of horror/ the teachers who had this young man in their classes and can't believe they missed the signs of his obvious mental problems/ the neighbors wracked with fear over the possible threat to (and vulnerability of) their own pets and yes, their children.... The more I thought about it, the longer the list of those impacted by this act, became.
But slowly, I began to think about the young man himself: how his mental problem developed and manifested itself, and what could have possibly occurred in his life before this heinous act took place? What produced such inhumane depravity? Certainly he didn't awaken one morning and think, "Gee, I have nothing scheduled to do today, why don't I go over to Grandma's and sodomize Skippy?!"
So...... what can we do as a society BEFORE this kind of monstrous insanity destroys our beloved animals, the dogs to whom we feel so connected? This story frightens me very much because so little is understood about this type of violence against animals, and so little seems to be taking place to try to address it or prevent it...
All I know to do right now is to pray...pray for all the victims, pray for the disturbed young man who did it, pray for us to be able to "fix" it....
May G-d help us all.