Daniel J. Collins is apparently a 39 year old man with incredibly poor judgment. Apparently Mr. Collins of Muncie, Indiana, told his children on Sunday that he wanted them to "learn how to kill." This is a rather bizarre request of children who are visiting a father's home. If it were rural Indiana, one might suspect he was going to take his children out to the farm to watch chicken or steers begin the process of becoming food. But no, apparently Mr. Collins saw fit to give his 11-year-old son a knife to try to kill the family cat.
The boy apparently had a humane heart and tried to save the cat by hiding it under a sofa. The rather clever son put ketchup on the knife to look like he had carried out his father's request. However, apparently good old Dad was not fooled by his son and so he apparently forced his daughter to hold the knife and guided her hand into stabbing the cat. Muncie police Detective Jami Brown, the chief detective in the case, has apparently filed a charging affidavit accordingly.
According to police, Collins ended up stabbing and strangled the cat himself. Collins then supposedly asked his son to throw the carcass in the trash. Apparently, the children told family members about the incident the next day and blamed it on their fathers drinking. Apparently the children live with their grandparents. Charges are pending in Delaware County and bail is set at $40,000. Collins faces charges of one count of animal cruelty and one count of battery. Collins also faces two counts of neglect of a dependent.
The battery charge against Collins alleges that his daughter was injured when Collins held her hand to guide the knife.
Boots was an 8-month-old tuxedo-type cat. She had all 9 of her lives ahead of her at the time of her death.
Update 3-29: The HSUS: "The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, wrote to Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Mark McKinney today, calling for aggressive investigation and prosecution, if warranted... The HSUS monitors incidents of cruelty across the U.S. and provides input to prosecutors in more than 200 cases annually."
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36 comments:
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This is sick. The little girl was only 7!
Turn the humane society lose on this dude!
Oh my Gawd! This is one sick guy. Wonder what he can be charged with ?. . . I hope someone steps in for supervised visitation. If I were mom or grandparents, there's no way he'd have the children alone with him again.
Sheeesh,
what ever happened to Ozzie and Harriet?
I am a die hard animal lover (mostly dogs).I makes me physically ill when I hear something like this.
This has to fall under the child abuse umbrella. What a sick f**k!
Sick sick people in this world!
Moe info is needed about the father. Was he in the military? Black?
Other than his address, which I chose not to disclose, there is little known about this guy.
I was not able to attend the initial hearing so I did not see his face. I do know that the kids lived with the grandparents.
Hopefully more will be learned later.
T.J.
P.S. Thanks Legal Pub for putting up the story.
I feel so sad for that little girl and the other children as well. in her mind, she will feel like she killed her beloved cat, no matter what anyone says to her. She will remember that moment for the rest of her life and re-live it over and over. The mental and emotional trauma that he inflicted on her will affect her the rest of her life. My heart breaks for her.
WTF?
L.S.
I sent this horrific item to Drudge this morning, but nothing has appeared. I urge anyone who reads this to report it to Drudge.
You see, all were victims. The kids are traumatized, and the cat, that had feelings, lost its life.
Boots should be a poster cat for pet cruelty in a campaign to made this type of crime a FELONY in all states:"BOOTS' LAW" She didn't deserve to be slaughtered this way, a sweet, loving little animal.
Please help make this crime a FELONY,
What a cruel and hateful thing to do to your children.
I'm hoping the only visitation he'll have in the future is from a jail cell - can't get much more supevised than that.
Those poor kids ... I bet they lived in dread each time they visited.
A bit of devil’s advocacy…know thy enemy.
Felony, misdemeanor, jail, prison…what’s the difference? Why would I care?
I say this is this manner to illustrate a point, to wit: THE JAILS AND PRISONS ARE FULL! COPY THAT?
These “dressed apes”, the gang bangers, the assassins of graduate students, the sadistic killer of dependent family pets, are completely unconcerned with the possible consequences of their actions because, in their minds, there are none.
Let me get this straight, I get arrested, go to jail, three hots and a cot, make bail, get out, go back to doing what I normally do until the SAO drops charges? No big deal!
Or, I get sentenced and go to a nice place, hang out with my hommies, do some networking, medical care, dental care, good free food, don’t have to work, watch TV, learn my trade (robbery, drug dealing, raping, etc.) from other experienced practitioners, learn from our collective mistakes, and come out “criminal 2.0” with more criminal talents and more street respect. This is a bad thing? Not! It’s called “criminal graduate school”, AKA prison.
And besides, all I have to do is make sure I don’t commit/get caught committing the type of crime for which the police will pursue (which, we know, they won’t but for a FEW real serious felonies) and just run away…they won’t chase me. Those silly little lights in the rearview mirror are a joke. Why the hell would anybody stop?
So we have:
1. The cops won’t chase me if I run;
2. If I do get caught, there is nothing I consider bad going to happen to me.
So why is it that you sit there in your silly little homes, working all day to get stuff that I can steal, feeding you daughters so they can grow up for me to rape, saving money for me to rob, and think you can influence my behavior by your silly little “criminal justice system”? And you call me stupid!
“u wood not survive 1 day in da hood. Get real”
He’s right, most of you would not. You’re soft, weak, no mental predisposition and preparation to “kill or be killed”, no combat mind set, no ready willingness to fight to survive, no physical and mental training in the arts of mortal combat, no skill at arms, and most importantly…NO CONCEPT WHATSOEVER OF THE NATURE OF THE ENEMY COMING AGAINST YOU!
They are the barbarian hordes at the gates. And they’re here to rape and pillage. They’re here to kill you.
Better learn about who they are, how they think, and learn to fight real well.
If you don’t, they’ll win.
Just one man’s humble opinion.
L.S.
In WWII in the Pacific theatre, a similar mentality had to be learned, L.S. Too many people today are too soft. Collins was wrong to do it this way; however, I suspect he was trying to teach his boy to be tough. Not the right way, but I can see how it may have started...
Wow! Divergent views emerging...
The cats in the cradle and the silver spoon and little boy blue is a man...
Better song might be country boys can survive... we can skin a buck and run a trout line cause a country boy can survive.
Just plain animal cruelty in my book.
Jan
So that's what they do to keep busy in good ole Muncie, Indiana. The story would have made more sense if they were located a little further south and cooked the cat for dinner! They eat cat in some countries.
I agree with Jethro. Down south some eat cat. But in central Indiana, some orientals have been acused of eating cat as in some cultures it is considered a delicacy.
Finishing the thought, I seriously doubt that even a creative lawyer will be able to sell any of the above to a jury.
Through out Indiana, the Humane Societies are very active and do a good job of monitoring such cases. I think Mr. Collins, if guilty, will spend some quality time in therapy and/or jail based on the limited information that is currently available.
There is a deeply disturbing amount of blatant racism on this thread.
Absolutely no racism what so ever! Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky are white hill billy. Poor country folk have survival skills that are different from others. Some cultures have different diets and tastes. For examples some cultures are vegetarians and view all carnavores as primitive. (See Devils advocates comments above.)
Do you know Collins' race? It has nothing to do with the story. This story is about animal cruelty and whether it is is cruel to make children learn to kill.
This isn't about race, or Indiana, or poor, or being an alcoholic, or teaching a child to be tough, or ANYTHING except child abuse and animal abuse.
Collins needs to be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And our laws need to be examined and changed to reflect the absolute severity of this crime.
It doesn't matter if people in China kill and eat cats ... we don't in this country. This was a pet, a beloved family member and a source of love and support for children with an unstable home life. This was a friend to them and they were bonded with this furry critter.
We must, as a society, not excuse this behavior but call it for what it is --- ABUSE --- and prosecute. He needs to go to jail.
We must support these children --- get them help.
Ditto above and Ditto Legal Pub above.
Julie
No race involved here. Stupid, ignorant accusation unless its a slam on the majority of backwoods country folk.
Ralph
Update 3-29: The HSUS: "The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, wrote to Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Mark McKinney today, calling for aggressive investigation and prosecution, if warranted... The HSUS monitors incidents of cruelty across the U.S. and provides input to prosecutors in more than 200 cases annually."
If they want to do stuff like that they should get a nice fuzzy rabbit and do it, like most of the farmer's in the country.
Too many people are missing the point with this story. The death of the cat is horrific, but the bigger story is what he did to his children. It involves physical, emotional, and mental torture and abuse. Supervised visitation? Are you kidding me? He should lose all visitation rights permanently.
What is wrong with teaching a child to live off the land.
That includes the ability to kill an animal or livestock. Grow up so kids can grow old.
Ok here's the deal I have known the Collin's whole family for many years and we was all sick over what Danny done yes he is white and was raised in a good family that does NOT condone this sh*t he did!! It was not because he lives in hillbilly land or that he wanted to teach the kids how to live off the land, he wanted to teach the to MURDER! His kids have already been through alot in their short lives, their mother kiddnapped them when they was little because she thought Danny was cheating on her and that's why they are not with her and the little girl has been through even more when she was just a baby they found a tumer behind her eye and she had to have a few surgeries to remove it which let to her now having a glass eye by the time she was 2. So she goes to school where the kids already make fun of her because of that and now she is known as a CAT KILLER at school because young children do not understand everything that has happened so they think she done it and her brother is known as the Cat Killers brother and son. They can't go play at a park like normal children because their grandparents (that are raising them) are afraid they might all get killed . The town also blames the rest of his family and has left death threats and broken windows on their house and cars. I just can't believe that there are people blogging on here saying that it was just to live and learn or that he should not be in any trouble for this, I mean sh*t he has ruined his own childrens lives, they will never be able to forget any of these things, and he has taken their innocents away and that doesn't include what he has done to the rest of his family! So please inless you have seen the fear and pain in these babies eyes please don't try to justify ANY of his actions! He is a CAT KILLER and CHILD ABUSER!!
Okay, he is a cat killer. Maybe that teaches the children in the ways of being an exterminator. Maybe it is just plain animal curelty. But this is not necessarily child abuse. I would rather give the guy the benefit of the doubt and I suggest the rest of the town should too!
Yup, give the guy a break. Life is hard. Wear a helmut. But use something other then domestic animals to demonstrate toughness.
im his son now my dad is better than he was years ago ,a changed man, and you guys need to stop being a prick and living in the past i was 11 yes but i still to this very dam day dont have a clue what the hell happened to this fucking day yes give him a break and stop being a dick my grandpa only wanted me and my sis with them so they can have money and try to get my dad out of the picture........PRICKS
oh and one more thing bitch it didnt ruin my life or my sisters actually its better than ever. my dad has changed,true changed, all it was, was his drinking habits and hes quit drinking so far for 5 years, yes bitch 5 years, so go suck a dick
bonded ha i wasnt the only cat i was bonded to was to sheba
Good to hear that Daniel Collins and his kids are doing much better. People make mistakes. We all face obstacles in life. Successful people overcome those obstacles.
Best of luck to the entire family great to hear they are doing much better.
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