Marine booted for throwing dog off cliff
Lance Cpl. David Motari, the U.S. Marine who was videotaped throwing a puppy over a cliff in Iraq, is getting kicked out of the Marines and will receive "non-judicial punishment."
I don't know what exactly that is -- apparently his privacy supersedes us regular citizens' right to know -- but the Marine Corps said in a statement that Motari and a second Marine, will receive unspecified punishment.
Motari, based in Hawaii with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, is being "processed for separation" based on his role in the "episode which generated international attention," the Marines said.
The incident appeared on the Internet web site YouTube in March, sparking outrage from animal rights groups around the world.
On the video, Motari smiles as he is holding the puppy and then hurls the dog over a cliff. An unknown person operating the video camera is heard laughing and another voice saying "that's mean, Motari."
The statement said the Marines conducted an investigation as soon as the YouTube video came to the attention of commanders. "The actions seen in the Internet video are contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine and will not be tolerated," according to the statement.
Janice Hagar, a spokeswoman for the Marines in San Diego, said the second Marine, San Diego-based Sgt. Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion, received non-judicial punishment as well. Hagar said Encarnacion shot the video, according to this CNN report.
The Humane Society of the United States applauded the Marine Corps' decision to punish those involved.
"The bad actors in this case have been dealt with by the Marine Corps, which rightly recognizes that harming animals is unacceptable conduct," said Dale Bartlett, the group's deputy manager for animal cruelty issues. "Now, the Department of Defense and the Congress must step up protection from cruelty for all animals under the law governing military conduct."
The HSUS also renewed its call for the inclusion of a broad animal cruelty prohibition in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The organization believes that in cases involving animal cruelty convictions, jail time, psychological evaluation, treatment and community service are important consequences for sentencing.
While reports of animal cruelty in the military do not appear to occur with any greater frequency than in the civilian population, instances of animal cruelty linked to Americans in conflict zones have led The HSUS and its international affiliate, Humane Society International, to write to the Department of Defense four times since mid-2005.
In the most recent letter, sent in response to the puppy-throwing incident, The HSUS' President and CEO Wayne Pacelle urged U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to take agency-wide steps to raise awareness of the relationship between cruelty to animals and socially maladapted behavior.
The video can be viewed here.
