A lawyer is feeling bad about a recent lawsuit against a child, but the 12-year-old committed a heinous crime.
The user took to Reddit to explain the story. They said a woman came to their office wanting to sue her 12-year-old neighbor for poisoning her dog.
The lawyer clarified that in their country, minors cannot be criminally responsible for offenses, but they can be sued. That’s what was happening in this case , where the woman found the child committing the crime on her home’s security camera.
The Reddit user wrote: “The woman had recordings from her security camera of the girl throwing things from her house to the garden where the dog was, and the last thing she threw at him were two pieces of chicken, one with broken glass and the other with rat poison according to studies by the veterinarian that the lady left me as part of the evidence.”
In the lawyer’s opinion, people 11 years old and older should be held responsible for their crimes.
“You don't have to be an adult to know that killing is wrong and that poisoning kills, but the law is the law, and I act according to what the law establishes.”
The lawyer represented the woman, and they recently found out that the child was fined and now has a permanent police record. The Reddit user has pets, and they said they couldn’t imagine how’d they feel if someone deliberately hurt them.
While their husband supported them, not everyone agreed that the child should be legally punished.
“The problem was when I told my dad, the only family I have because I cut off contact with my mom years ago, and he was quite harsh saying that I just ruined a girl's life for a simple dog that ‘is easily replaceable.’”
“My dad is not a bad man, it's just that in the context in which he grew up, animals did not have as much emotional value as they do now. But I can't help but think if I did the right thing or not.”
In the replies, people agreed that the girl should receive consequences, as people who harm animals in their youth can sometimes go on to perpetrate worse crimes.
One person wrote: “That young girl sounds like a sociopath. Stopping her in her tracks will be better for everyone. This child sounds like she needs to be institutionalized and receive some serious help!”
Another said: “Studies have shown that children who harm animals are likely to move on to harming people. That "little" girl should have been mandated to receive therapy.”
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