If the owner of the tortoise was contacted by someone demanding money for its return, isn't that extortion? Isn't that a crime, even today?

If someone stole my dog and then offered to return her for cash, I would call the sheriff's department and ask if they would tag along for the payoff. Would they do it for a dog? Probably not. Would they do it for a Lamborghini or Ferrari?

Am I allowed to protect myself from an extortionist when the police refuse to do so?

Sue

The gene pool needs alot of clorox

This is always an emotionally charged issue. I don't believe in harming animals "just because I can". My neighbors cats to the North use my backyard like the Ho Chi Min trail to get to negihbors house to the South. Reason for the travel, she has a multitude of bird houses and attracts alot of birds..naturally of course the cats are inclined to snack. I tend to let this behavior go because I am a hunter myself. However, increasingly these cocky animals have decided it would be better to just camp a little closer to the meal and have taken to lounging about on my vehicles, squalling on the front porch at night and leaving coughed up fur balls and little presents everywhere. My first inclination is to just pack them off to my hunting lease and let the coyotes have their way with them..I mean after all coyotes are hunters to...but after reading several of these posts. I guess the proper place to start is just a simple discussion with the owners.

Curious if the autistic boy continued to speak even after this horrific act by a bunch of thugs.

citrus peels and caustic soaps like Ivory, Lifebuoy etc.

Wait until is snows and the cats use the snow pile on your back porch as litter
My parents cats would do this. Dig a nice little hole in the snow, do their business, then cover it back up.

That's odd, mine never have. Although, mine also have the sense to stay out from under the edge of the roof in winter.

Try coyote urine scent. Or fox urine.

Cats are smarter than most humans, they don't go were things that go bump in the dark are.

A friend of mine raises ducks and geese in his back yard. On occasion one of the neighborhood cats come prowling, discovered the little goslings and ducklings, and made a habit out of terrorizing the poor little things. Now bear in mind, these birds are pets that usually imprint on my friend and will follow him around the yard day and night. They are also an investment, as they will also end up on the kitchen table. I know, that seems foreign to many, but we both grew up in FFA and 4H communities and have a different take on life than some.

Anyways, he would live-trap the cats and take them to the animal shelter. One such cat was recovered by the owner, who brought it back to the neighborhood and allowed to roam free again, and it subsequently picked up where it had left off with killing my friends birds. Having had his fill of losing pets to unkept cats, he caught this one (again), and instead of taking to the SPCA, he decided to duct tape the cat's torso with several wraps, then send it down the road. That was the last time he saw that cat. I imagine that, while the cat and the owner survived the ordeal, neither one enjoyed removing that duct tape much.

Some folks (and critters) have to be taught a lesson the hard way. Neither my friend nor I are inclined towards hurting animals unnecessarily, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Had it been me, I reckon I more likely would've just killed the cats for predation instead of turning them in, probably because I am more used to putting down pets than my friend is.

Anyone else here have to do the "Old Yeller" routine? Kinda tough sometimes to have to take a pal you've known for over a decade out for one last trip to the big forest. I've always felt that I kinda owed it to them to help end their pain when the time comes, but knowing that doesn't make it any the easier. Then there's the livestock routine, and you learn a hard lesson about not getting too attached to that young calf your uncle had you help him raise all summer. Sure is a weird feeling to call an 800 lb steer by name and have him come walk over to you and lick your hand right before you're gonna do him in and dress him out. Guilt is a foul seasoning on any cut of beef, but you'll end up eating it just the same.

There's a survival lesson in there too. A whole lotta people on this planet still live like that, and many who wish they could.

I'm not sure I quite understand exactly what you're trying to say. I think what you're saying is that there's a big difference between killing your own pet/livestock for food or killing a predator, even if its some one elses pet, for harassing livestock and someone kidnapping a persons pet with the intention of slaughtering it for food (or some sort of amusement).' The latter is a depraved action stemming more from a blood lust not a need for food or desire to learn.

My family has raised and slaughtered (or had slaughtered) livestock since I was six. And I have no problem with my uncle killing pet dogs that pack up and attack and kill livestock. And I've held several pets, my own and other peoples, while they were put down when I worked at a vet clinic. Killing an animal is often called for. But killing for amusement or bloodlust is repugnant to me. I'd be inclined to treat the person who kidnapping the tortoise more like the cat in your post since that's what their behavior is in my mind.

I reckon something like that. There's killing because we have to or because we need to, then there's just plain evil. Senseless destruction in any form is insanely wrong, and cannot be tolerated. It gets to be contagious.