More than 500,000 people are petitioning for ‘maximum sentencing’ to be given to two young men who were filmed torturing a deer to death in Pennsylvania.
The shocking footage – which has since been removed from Facebook – shows the two teenagers kicking the injured buck in the face and stamping on its legs, all while laughing.
After the animal appeared to have died, the teens could be seen ripping off its antlers and skinning it.
You can find out more about this story in the following news segment from CBS Pittsburgh:
On Wednesday, December 4, a Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesperson informed ABC News charges are expected to be announced soon, with arrests having yet to be made.
The spokesperson was unable to release details about the two attackers, or about the area where the assault took place.
According to the Change.org petition:
Recently two monsters from Brookville Pennsylvania, reportedly from Brookville, PA high school, were in the woods with Ill intent and wounded or found a wounded deer. They committed sickening acts of violence and tortured this helpless deer.
The two of them took a video of the actions and are seen laughing while restricting the animal, crushing the animals face, repeatedly kicking and stomping the animal’s face as the animal is desperately and helplessly seen trying to evade.
Charges need to be pressed! Posting in case the original post gets deleted. CHARGES NEED to be FILED WITH MAXIMUM SENTENCING. Especially with the new bills put into effect from the president making these acts federal offences.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has released the following public statement on the matter on Facebook:
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is aware of a video purporting to show individuals assaulting an injured deer. The conduct portrayed in the video is reprehensible and potentially a violation of the law.
Pennsylvania State Game Wardens are currently investigating the matter. If you have any information related to the video, we ask that you report it to the Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-888–PGC-8001 or the Game Commission’s Northwest Region Dispatch Office at 814-432-3187.
Thank you for your help and for your concern for Pennsylvania wildlife.
This unbelievably callous act occurred approximately one week after President Donald Trump signed a bill into law to make animal cruelty a federal felony.
Under the new Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, acts of animal cruelty are now considered a federal crime, punishable with fines and prison sentences of up to seven years.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.