This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

News of random acts of violence on our streets, parks, and subways cry for a judicial system that addresses violence in conjunction with mental illness in a responsible way. In North Carolina, a dog who was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight at a park highlights this issue yet again in the most tragic way. Please urge maximum penalties and mandated psychiatric help for her attacker.

Liesbeth Mackie tethered her beloved 11-year-old dog Beignet in the shade beside the tennis court at an Asheville area park where she and her partner were playing pickleball. While they were playing, a man who players had heard yelling to himself shortly before approached Beignet, grabbed her by the throat, and began stabbing her; she died on the scene, while her attacker tried to walk away unnoticed.

Police quickly located James Wesley Henry with the help of witnesses who had followed him. He's being charged with felony animal cruelty and was held on a $10,000 bond.

Liesbeth, her husband Tom, and their three children are grieving the unimaginable loss of their beloved family member who they adopted when she was a young puppy, and the community is shattered, some blaming city officials for not addressing the crisis of the houseless mentally ill who are violent and a threat to others' safety and well-being.

As sympathetic as we are for Henry's situation, the Mackies still deserve justice for Beignet, and the citizens of Asheville must be protected from the probable harm he's very likely to commit again.

According to the Asheville Watchdog, between 2010 to 2022 Henry was arrested in the county 16 times, including for assault with a deadly weapon in 2016. How many more individuals need to be attacked before Henry's violent streak is stopped? More must be done to permanently address this kind of issue.

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.