Expert: Jack Toomey - 5/8/2006

Question
Yesterday, my dog was in the neighbors yard watching a crowd of 200+ motorcycles go down the road.  According to the neighbor's account (he was also in the yard at the time, so he is an eye witness), one of the cyclists swerved nearly 6 feet into the yard to intentionally hit and kill the dog.  The cyclists appeared to be laughing and making a game of it, seeing how many people could run over him until he was nothing but a bloody mess.

He was a wonderful dog, and I miss him terribly.  I want to see that whoever did this is properly punished.  I did some research to find out who organized the bike ride, and I have the organization's name and their contacts.  I have also notified the police, but had to leave a message with animal control and no one has called me back.

Is this a criminal or a civil matter?  Will the police even bother investigating this?  I am determined to see that justice is served one way or another.  If you can provide some insight through your own personal experiences in similar situations, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Gena Lewis

Answer
Gena,

     I can't say that I have ever handled a case like yours.  There are fifty states with fifty different sets of laws when it comes to cruelty to animals so it would depend on the law in your state in regards to what law has been broken, if any.  On first glance I would say, that if it occurred in my county, it would be a criminal act if this was an intentional act.  This would be very difficult to prove however.  I can't tell you if the police would bother investigating it because I don't know the department and what resources they have.  I can see that it would take a great deal of manpower to track down two hundred different motorcyclists and inspect their motorcycles unless someone recorded a tag number of the striking vehicle.