Life Goes On -

Help Put West Virginia Man Behind Bars, on Shrink’s Couch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please respond by August 8 and forward as appropriate.

The man charged in one of last year's most chilling cruelty-to-animals cases has been convicted by his peers, and securing the proper penalties for him and justice for his victim depends on you.

Richard Faircloth, 30, of Martinsburg was found guilty on June 9 on felony cruelty charges, according to news sources. In October 2004, he had been accused of attempting to decapitate his dog by tying him to a well-traveled railroad track. The defendant's botched binding of the animal evidently allowed him to wiggle his head, causing only his jaw and tongue to be severed by the next passing train. An investigating officer apparently found that the animal suffered and bled to death over a period of time.

On August 8, Faircloth will appear before The Honorable David Sanders to be sentenced. Please respectfully remind Judge Sanders that people who abuse animals rarely do so only once and almost never stop there. Politely explain that the safety of the community and its animals may well be at stake on August 8 and ask that he take the following steps:

• Incarcerate Faircloth for every single day of the three years in jail he faces
• Bar Faircloth from all contact with animals for the 15 years mandated by Chapter 61-8-19(i) of West Virginia law
• Order Faircloth to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and any treatment deemed necessary

Our campaign will suffer if correspondence is impolite:

The Honorable David H. Sanders, Judge
c/o Clerk's Office, Circuit Court of Berkeley County
110 W. King St.
Martinsburg, WV 24501
304-262-3072 (fax)