I, for one, am glad you called someone. Kids can be mean and quite cruel. The animal shouldn’t suffer because the kids don’t know better.
And, yes, there are many, many tried and true cases of people who abuse animals, becoming very dangerous.
Well, persistent tormenting of animals by children, particularly if actual torture is involved, has a very high correlation with later-in-life adults engaging in psychopathic/sociopathic behaviors.
However, I would be a bit cautious about simply assuming that one unthinking kid hurling an object at one animal on one occasion is a clear sign that the kid should be permanently incarcerated for the good of society.
I’ve known a couple of animal rights activists and vets/vet assistants who took up their causes or professions because they unthinkingly harmed an animal as a child and were prompted by guilt feelings to make amends.
You definitely did right.
In Springfield Park, Rochdale, England there was a duckpond with around 10-15 ducks living on it, just minding their own business doing no harm at all.
People used to feed them and the kiddies really loved 'em.
One day some fuckers shot at them with airguns killing some and wounding others.
Bastards
This was something that message board mentioned almost anytime somebody did something to an animal. They equated it to the toddler that kicked a cat, or to the hunter that shot a deer. The incidents weren’t about torturing, they just couldn’t tolerate a person that wasn’t matching their views. Equating every person that has done something to an animal as a kid as an adult murder is going way too far.
Or be caught in the web of justice.
Be kind to your web-footed friends
Every duck may be Dick Tracy’s brother!
Well, I got a phone call from the main office when they opened this morning. The woman manages the property lives in the building that the object was stolen from and she too is a huge fan of the mallard. She was none too happy to hear about the incident and was grateful I phoned it in. She said she would get with the courtesy officer (which to clarify, is an off duty police officer who gets to live here at a huge discount in exchange for his service as an on-call security provider)to find out if the kids live here and take the matter up with the lease holder/ guardian if possible.
In addition, I did not immediately make the animal abuse-serial killer connection when I happened upon the situation. My instinct is just to prevent any harmless animal from being hurt. In deciding to report it, I did however use the animal abuse and mischief as a possible indication that this behavior that could escalate into cats and dogs and other animals being harmed in the path of this bunch…and I have also noticed that car windows seem to get broken out and other vandalistic activity tends to rise when these twerps are bored during summer break and showing out in groups. I hope it may at least discourage further acts, though I am not silly enough to think all pranks will be thwarted now.
Ultimately, I really appreciate the Doper input…especially since you all seem to agree with me 
If it makes you feel any better, Mint Julep, I reacted the exact same way a few months back when I saw one of the neighbor kids trying to impale a squirrel. So if you overreacted, then I did, too.
I would probably be in jail for what I would have done in your situation.
Did I mention I like squirrels alot too?
Thank you for doing the right thing in your situation too Ladybug!
Mint Julep, I think you did just the right thing, but I understand feeling like the crabby old spinster about it all. Still, I’ve decided that even more than ever, I’ll be calling the cops if I see something “not right.”
I live in the burbs, not a lot of crime. About a year ago, I happened to be looking out my front window, kind of looking to see if my younger son was on the way home as he was supposed to arrive any minute, and noticed two young men, maybe 15 or 16, walking by. I gave them a second look because they were wearing the same t-shirts, and similar jeans, so looked like some sort of casual uniform. I thought maybe they were part of some event going on at the Elementary school up the street. I was trying to read their shirts when I noticed them sneak into my neighbor’s open garage and then run like mad after being in there just a few seconds. When I looked down the street, I saw they had stopped running, and each of them had a brown bottle in their hand, held at arms length, with what looked like beer foaming over the tops. Ok, so two kids stole beer from my neighbors open garage. Should I phone the cops?
Well, I decided I should, and just described what had just happened to the police dispatcher. They said they’d send someone out to investigate.
Meanwhile the kids had moved on to the next street over where one of my neighbors, who had taken down her blinds as she was painting her living room happened to look out and see these two guys go into the backyard of one of her across-the-street neighbors. She happened to be watching that house for those neighbors and knew that no one was home and that these two kids, who she recognised as “friends” of the boy who lives in that house. She went over to investigate and found them in the process of trying to break into the back door. She asked what they were doing and they gave her some song about how “kid who lives there” had told them to come over because he was going to pay them $20 that he owed them. She herds them out of the back yard and on the way, they pick up the two bottles of beer that they had left out on the front porch. She was just being told about how they just live up the street and that they had stolen a beer out of their parent’s fridge and that’s why they had it when the police pulled up. According to my neighbor, the cop looked very pleased to see these guys and said hello to each of them, using their first names. The police dispatcher called me and asked if I would identify these two, so I went over there. By this time both boys were on the ground in handcuffs. The officer I spoke to seemed very pleased to have a reason to arrest these two as they were suspects in a break-in that had happened just the night before. I believe all they were able to charge them with was theft from my neighbor’s garage, and only because they had me as a witness, but at least they were caught with something. The funny thing is, the beer they stole was old skunky beer sitting on the top of the fridge in the garage. It wasn’t even cold and it was wayyyy old. So they got arrested for stinky nasty old warm beer. Heh.
So, I do tend to call if something quirky is going on. I tell the dispatcher, you know, this may be nothing, but just wanted to tell you this and you can decide if anything needs to be, or even can be, done about it. I figure it’s their job to decide how far to take it. Had these just been two dumb kids with no record of misbehavior, I imagine they would not have been arrested.
Right, so I just looked at the title and started laughing. No offense. But I’m vegan and everything, so I totally support you in any action you take against the bastards, including lynching.
Bravo. I didn’t even think to say that.
Both you and the courtesy officer handled the situation very well, in my opinion. Both reactions were reasonable and constructive. The only people at fault here are the kids.
Just coming by to say that I misread the OP as “Some mean little kids tried to hurt my d*ck.”
They’re dethhh-picable.
It’s time for a quackdown.