Most cases are based in ignorance. This case was based in perversion. But the Herbeck case is not unique. Daphna Nachminovitch, a cruelty caseworker for PETA, says Herbeck-style animal abuse has been going on for a long time. Even as Herbeck sits in Janesville County Jail awaiting transfer to a state facility, four young men in Kansas City, Kansas, are set to stand trial for allegedly videotaping the torture of a Yorkshire terrier.
Police say the men hanged the six-pound animal and lit it on fire.
People are becoming more responsible and reporting it. Unfortunately, as with most activist organizations, PETA has a difficult time drawing the line on how far it should go to prove their point. Both PETA and the U.S. Humane Society defend posting the photos online as a way to alert the world to the existence of sick individuals such as Herbeck. Both organizations also adamantly insist that cruelty to animals is a precursor to sadistic behavior against human beings. Serial killers and animal cruelty do appear to be linked, at least according to FBI supervisory special agent Alan Brantley.