The murder of war hero Marcus Luttrell’s 4-year-old yellow Labrador Dasy
resonates worldwide. Like Luttrell, most people treat companion animals as
family members who happen to have fur. Like Luttrell, we’d want their
killers prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But for Luttrell — the sole survivor of a Navy SEAL team ambushed by
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in 2005 — the loss is unbearable. Dasy, a
therapy dog, was Luttrell’s link back to the living world.

Please seek maximum penalties under Texas law for Michael John Edmonds II,
21, and Alfonzo Hernandez, 24, both charged with felony cruelty to
nonlivestock animals in Dasy’s shooting on April 1, 2009.

As you know, Luttrell responded to gunshots at his Walker County home.
Finding nothing amiss, he raced outside to find bloody paw prints and Dasy’s
body in a ditch. “I could tell she tried to get away,” Luttrell told
interviewers. He chased Dasy’s killers in his pickup across three counties.
He alerted a 911 operator and finally made a citizen’s arrest near Onalaska.

Texas animal cruelty law allows for up to 2 years in prison and a $10,000
fine. It also permits mandatory counseling. Please advocate extensive
incarceration and rehabilitation for Edmonds and Hernandez. The men should
also be barred from possessing, working or living with animals.

In fact, five other area dog killings may lead back to Edmonds and
Hernandez, according to Texas Ranger Steven Jeter. Repeat animal attacks
suggest a predatory style that is indicative of “organized and premeditated
violence against others,” says Dr. Randall Lockwood, an ASPCA animal
behaviorist who often consults with cruelty investigators and law enforcers.

Criminologists view the intensity of vicious behavior — regardless of the
victim’s identity — as a precursor to future violence. The FBI identifies
animal abuse as an early stage along the violence continuum. Indeed, men
prosecuted for animal cruelty are five times as likely to be arrested for
other violent crimes, as published in Utah State University professor Frank
Ascione’s extensive research.

Please punish these unrepentant killers to the fullest degree. That is the
only real justice for Marcus Luttrell and his beloved Dasy.

Thank you,