How does Judge Brian Hill justify the shockingly light sentence given to convicted puppy torturer Duanying Chen? This man not only inflicted unspeakable cruelty on a young puppy on multiple occasions, but he tried to strangle his girlfriend and later to intimidate her as a witness in the case against him. Any one of these actions calls for a longer sentence than the paltry 365 days in jail and five years probation that the perpetrator received. Taken together, they should’ve resulted in the maximum sentence that the district attorney asked for.
A judge who will not impose an appropriate sentence on a violent offender does not inspire confidence in his ability to protect the community as he was elected to do. There is a documented relationship between animal abuse and violence toward human beings. Judge Hill’s failure to impose a stiffer sentence puts all of us at risk.