Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Raccoon beaten, shot, skinned and eaten

Raccoon beaten, shot, skinned and eaten
Athens, GA (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Dec 12, 2003
County: Clarke
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abusers/Suspects:
» Erik Robert Zimmerman
» Patrick Thomas Perry - Not Charged
» Ivan Antonio Garcia - Not Charged

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 1904

Classification: Beating, Shooting

Animal: raccoon

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Animal control was called to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at 398 S. Milledge Ave to investigate a complaint of animal cruelty.

Witnesses told the officers that an erratically behaving raccon was found near the frat house dumpster.

Instead of letting animal control handle the case, frat house brothers took the matter into their own hands.

Erick Zimmerman, age 19, first spotted the raccon, then got a construction pylon and hit the animal. He then shot the raccoon 5 times with a pellet gun in the fraternity's parking lot.

Patrick Perry, age 19, skinned the raccoon, while at least 5 other fraternity members watched. The raccoon was then burned in a pile of trash and leaves, so Ivan Garcia, reportedly ate some of its meat.

Perry was treated for possible exposure to rabies because he held the racoon by the head.

Garcia did not receive treatment for possible rabies exposure, after eating the racoons meat, because he had been adviced by poision control that the only way to contact the deadly diseas is from contact with an infected animals saliva.

The racoon could not be tested for rabies, because it was burned.

No animal cruetly charges have been filed. Athens-Clarke County Solicitor General Ralph Powell, is investigating whether or not to file charges.

The 3 fraternity members will go before the fraternity's grievance committee at the University of Georgia Athen's when the spring semester bigins. They face possible sanctions from reprimands to expulsion from the fraternity.

Case Updates

A former University of Georgia student accused of shooting a raccoon that his fraternity brothers then cooked and ate is serving probation in a deal that allowed him to avoid a trial and possible year-long prison sentence.

In July, a month before he resigned as Athens-Clarke County solicitor general, Ralph Powell signed off on an agreement to allow former Phi Kappa Psi member Erik Robert Zimmerman to serve pre-trial probation for killing the raccoon in December 2003 outside his fraternity's South Milledge Avenue house, where another frat member skinned the animal and a third cooked and ate a piece of its flesh.

Although the local Phi Kappa Psi chapter required all three to apologize for their actions, give an educational speech about animal cruelty to the fraternity, perform 25 hours of community service and stay away from fraternity social activities for a month, only the frat member who killed the raccoon with a pellet gun was arrested.

Zimmerman was charged in February 2004 with animal cruelty and faced up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine, but a trial that was scheduled for August 2004 was postponed after Zimmerman volunteered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Morris Wiltshire Jr., a former Athens defense attorney who was sworn in Sept. 1 as the new solicitor general, said he was not familiar with all the facts of the case, but that the evaluation did not play a role in the plea agreement between Powell and Zimmerman's defense attorney, Wayne Burnaine of Lawrenceville.

"The psych exam was not something that played a great role," Wiltshire said. "The main issue was the offense itself, and the fact Mr. Zimmerman was eligible for pre-trial probation because he had no prior criminal record."

In agreeing to pre-trial probation, according to Wiltshire, Zimmerman did not admit guilt, but conceded there was a probability he'd be convicted at trial.

Powell, who left for Albany to become a private practice attorney, and Burnaine could not be reached for comment.

Wiltshire said Judge Kent Lawrence accepted a deal in which Zimmerman agreed to perform six months of supervised pre-trial probation. If he successfully completes probation, Wiltshire said, Zimmerman will not have to stand trial, although his arrest would remain in court records.

Zimmerman, who would have been a junior this year, is no longer registered at UGA, according to the school's registrar's office.

A 21-year-old resident of Marble, N.C., Zimmerman had testified during a preliminary hearing in Athens-Clarke County Magistrate Court that he threw a construction pylon at the raccoon to scare it away, but when the animal lingered, he shot it several times with a pellet gun.

Phi Kappa Psi brother Patrick Perry showed no remorse for his participation in the raccoon slaying, saying in an interview last year, "I didn't do nothing wrong. I just skinned an animal, and I'd do it again."

Ivan Garcia, who cooked and ate some of the animal's flesh, had accepted his fraternity's sanctions, saying, "We're just following through with what we're told."

Source: Online Athens - Sept 13, 2005
Update posted on Sep 19, 2005 - 11:20PM

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Raccoon beaten, shot, skinned and eatenAthens, GA (US)

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Raccoon beaten, shot, skinned and eaten
Athens, GA (US)