Jul 25, 2005 3 min read

At first blush it’s easy to support the creative sentencing that put a Point Marion man at the intersection of Fayette County’s busiest shopping district, wearing a blaze orange sandwich board sign informing passing motorists that he was an animal abuser. Who, pray tell, favors animal abuse? And if Ulysses Zimmerman didn’t want to pay a heftier fine for strangling his dog, and he agreed to don the sign in lieu of community service, a full day of public humiliation ought to do the punishment trick.

What could be wrong with that? As it turns out, plenty. That Zimmerman endured some irate horn-honking and hand gesturing doesn’t concern us; such responses were to be expected. That his punishment had to be cut short because the situation turned ugly, including incidents of rock throwing, proves that this wasn’t a well-thought-out idea.

Animal control officer Robin Moore, who crafted the unique punishment and accompanied Zimmerman to the site, wisely whisked him out of harm’s way once it became evident that the situation could escalate beyond her control. But what if things had mushroomed faster than Moore, who wears a uniform but lacks real police officer powers, could contain them? What if Zimmerman, or even Moore, had been injured by a flying rock – or something worse? Would this have seemed like such a good idea then, particularly when the inevitable lawsuits started coming?

This is not to say that Moore isn’t well intentioned, or that Zimmerman didn’t deserve punishment. Animals have no better friend in Fayette County than Moore, and Zimmerman deserved to have the proverbial book thrown at him after pleading guilty. He faced a fine of up to $750 and 90 days in jail, but said he couldn’t afford fines heftier than the $337.50 imposed by Magisterial District Judge Randy S. Abraham.

According to Moore, Zimmerman also balked when it came to the community service component of his punishment, saying that he didn’t want to clean anything, which nixed any idea of having him work at an animal shelter as punishment.

The last time we checked, a magisterial district judge has the power to decide what fines and jail time are appropriate for offenses in cases like Zimmerman’s. Wages can and have been attached to ensure that fines are paid. And people found guilty of less gruesome crimes such as shoplifting have been sent to the Fayette County Prison.

Zimmerman, who appears to have enjoyed his half-day in the sun, would have learned a better lesson by spending even one day in the pokey, instead of being the object of what appears to be, at least partly, a punitive publicity stunt.

Even worse, this was a case of the tail wagging the dog, with the punishment seemingly built around Zimmerman’s preferences. It should have been the other way around.