How to stop another Virginia Tech, step one...

charge teenagers and other individuals who commit acts of animal cruelty with felony crimes. Here is just one example in a press release issued yesterday:

Alto, Texas — After a 13-year-old Alto boy reportedly admitted to the January 4 fatal shooting of a cat on the animal’s family’s property and an ensuing investigation turned up further evidence of a crime, PETA wrote to Cherokee County Attorney Craig Caldwell urging him to file felony cruelty-to-animals charges against the boy in accordance with the Texas Penal Code. In his reply, Caldwell stated that because the suspect is a juvenile, Caldwell could not release records and files on the case—despite the fact that PETA was only requesting that he say whether or not charges will be filed.

Now, more than three months after Tetsu, a 1-year-old cat, was found dead in the yard by his guardian—who reportedly also saw the boy brandishing a shotgun nearby—no charges have been filed, and Caldwell isn’t talking. PETA has posted an action alert on its heavily trafficked Web site urging visitors to contact Caldwell and demand that he charge the suspect to the fullest extent of the law.

PETA points out that such heinous crimes against animals are a red flag—especially when committed by juveniles. FBI interviews with murderers showed that 36 percent had tortured and killed animals as children and that 46 percent had done so as adolescents. Serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer, Albert DeSalvo ("The Boston Strangler"), David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam"), and Lee Boyd Malvo all had histories of killing animals. In recent years, many schools have suffered the tragic consequences of ignoring or casually dismissing such crimes when children opened fire on schoolmates and other people.

"Mr. Caldwell’s job is to uphold and enforce the laws, and he’s refusing even to state whether or not charges will be brought against Tetsu’s allegedly confessed killer," says PETA Director Daphna Nachminovitch. "Repeat offenders are the rule—not the exception—among animal abusers. Failing to act now may only encourage further abuses and killings."