You may remember Caleb Capen.  Back in February, an alert Albany Police Officer went to investigate a small fire. It turned out that a kitten had been set on fire by its owner, Caleb Capen after Capen killed it. The officer arrested Capen and found two other cats in his home that Capen admitted abusing.

The surviving cats were brought to the Humane Society where they were treated and adopted. Those two were saved, but these three cats are victims who can not speak for themselves. 

Right now a judge is deciding what the sentence will be for this horrible crime. Capen has plead guilty to all of the charges against him, which often leads to a lighter sentence, but that should not be the case. 

He has pled guilty to one felony count of animal cruelty (Buster's Law) and two misdemeanor counts which means he could serve between 1 1/3 and 4 years in prison. I think he should get the maximum sentence allowable by law.

Please write to Judge Dan Lamont and ask him to sentence Caleb Capen to the maximum allowable by law.

The cats that were injured and killed in this case can not tell the judge about the horrible pain and suffering they were subjected to. Only you can, so please take a moment and speak for them.  Please let the judge know what you think by writing to:

Honorable Dan Lamont

Albany County Judicial Center

6 Lodge Street

Albany, NY 12208

We just marked the 10th anniversary of Buster's law, the state's felony animal cruelty statute.  Reflecting on the last 10 years has shown us that we have made tremendous progress toward better protecting animals, but also that we have a long way to go.  Making sure that offenders actually serve time for their crimes against animals is an important deterrent to future crimes, a statement that we will not allow this behavior in civilized society, and most importantly it protects both animals and people from future offenses by the same person.

The Police did the right thing, the District Attorney did the right thing, now it is time for the Judge to do the right thing and sentence an admitted felon to the maximum penalty allowed by law.  We need your help now.