Rusty Lewark brutally killed his two dogs. One with an ax, one with a blunt stick. He was arrested and let out on bond with restrictions. One of those restrictions was not to be around animals. Lewark violated the provision and was put into jail.
At a recent hearing, Lewark decided to plead guilty to his crimes.
We are sending letters to the State Attorney's office asking for maximum punishment. We are also requesting that Lewark not be allowed to live with animals until he can prove to a court he is capable of owning animals. Sometimes a sentence will have the provision of no animals while on probation. That is not enough.
No matter how much time Lewark serves in jail, he will very likely remain a threat to animals. His historic actions (arson, animal cruelty) exhibit documented signs attributed to other criminals who have eventually harmed people. Yes, we want to see justice and for Lewark to pay for his crime with jail time. More importantly, though, we want to protect animals from Lewark.
If you write a letter please stress the importance of Lewark never being allowed to live with animals until he proves to a court he can. We say live with and not own because saying own gives a loophole where Lewark can then live with someone who owns a dog, cat, etc.
We have a sample letter available in our Letter Writing for specific cases link on the left column of the website. Feel free to download the sample, edit it and mail it in. If you send a copy to the clerk of court, the letter may get docketed.
