Andrew David Thompson, 24, is studying to be a doctor at Michigan State University. His career, however, in osteopathic medicine has been delayed a bit by an anger issue and his tendency to kill dogs. Police say that Thompson has admitted to killing more than a dozen dogs — all Italian Greyhounds — out of anger by beating them on the floor or against the walls.
Thompson is charged with killing 13 dogs since September 2010. Police said that he would cry all the way to the dumpster as he got rid of each victim. And you thought HMOs were scary.
By the way, if you beat over a dozen dogs to death, you are still only subject to a maximum of four years in Michigan and that is higher than what he would get in other states. He is also charged with a misdemeanor count of animal neglect for one of the dogs that survived.
We have previously seen defendants who take out their anger over girlfriends, jobs, or life on pets. Of course, many just find it funny or arousing to torture or kill animals.
In Thompson’s case, I cannot imagine a stronger case for a maximum sentence absent a possible mental illness defense. However, Michigan appears to have eliminated the diminished capacity defense, leaving only the more restrictive insanity defense. That would require that his lawyer Kimberly Savage show that he “lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his or her conduct, or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law.” Given the crying on the way to the dumpster, that could be difficult to show.
Source: Lansing State Journal
Good grief.. This guy is a freak who belongs in prison with the other med student killer…the Craigslist Killer in Boston (?). The cruelty is beyond belief. Yea, the MD DO thing is stupid. I’d say they’re about 1/2 and 1/2 in the military. My brother in law got messed up by an IED in Samarra Iraq and they thought he wouldn’t make it but a DO performed the surgery and saved his life. I’m studying to be a PA and I work part-time in a clinic so I know there is no difference between MD & DO..
To the person who lives in the 19th century above:
In the U.S., a D.O. degree is legally and professionally the same as an M.D. It’s just a different training system. Go take a look at any ER, plenty of D.O.s in there.
Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine: “the training, practice, credentialing, licensure, and reimbursement of osteopathic physicians is virtually indistinguishable from those of allopathic physicians, with 4 years of osteopathic medical school followed by specialty and subspecialty training and [board] certification.
Why wasn’t the roommate charged also? He had clear knowledge of the torture and deaths of the dogs. Both of them should be held accountable. I have rescue dogs that were nearly beaten and starved to death by the lowest trash that walks the earth. It sickens me that anyone could do such horrible acts and also that someone who knew about it and stood by and did nothing.
My dogs in spite of the abuse that they suffered before I adopted them are so loving. I strive to be as good a person as my dogs seem to think that I am.
Rob
1, July 7, 2011 at 8:12 pm
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actually I agree with this and I dont care who I offend… Osteaopathy used to be totally quack medicine,the founder was nuts… But over the years it has lost alot (all?) of the craziness and they are pretty much the same as MDs (and MDs have adopted some of the better ostepathy practices)
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Rob beat me to this. Chiropractic is similar – the origins of the practice were ascribed to messages given to the founders by the ghost of a dead doctor. But clearly, osteopathy has overwhelmingly gone over to being pretty much fact and evidence based, at least in the US. Most of chiropractic has also, but there still is a slice of the field who still think they can treat liver cancer or ear infections with spinal alignment!
About this case – who was his source for dogs? The article says that he was having them flown in (not cheap!) from out of state. No responsible breeder would have sent him puppy after puppy like that. If he was getting them from a mill, then that’s all the more reason to outlaw mills.
(I’m a little biased here – I have a Whippet, which are the intermediate size between Italian Greyhounds and standard Greyhounds. The thought of anyone abusing any dog is revolting to me, but particularly given the meek and affectionate character of IGs (and Whippets) this is that much more saddening.)
I though the treatment of Michael Vick was excessive, particularly because he was raised in an environment where such practice was commonplace.
Mike Jones,
Tjhe word “niggardly” has been misused. “Niggardly” according to Webster’s means “1: grudgingly mean about spending or granting : begrudging 2: provided in meanly limited supply.” Just as Michael Vick should have not been able to return to professional football, this white boy should not be allowed to practice medicine. In fact, even more so. Vick’s job isn’t life or death concerning the welfare of others, but being a doctor is. Vick’s return to football was merely inappropriate because lionizing such an individual and putting him in a position that children may find him a hero is a different category of wrong contrasted to keeping someone out of the medical profession who has shown the same careless disregard for life as Vick displayed. That being said, lynching either of them for what they did would be inappropriate as well. However, advocating keeping either of them from positions of responsibility is perfectly acceptable, just as sending either of them to prison is an appropriate punishment.
It has long been established that individuals who abuse animals will also abuse the human animal….
“Let me clarify: anyone that practises homeopathy, osteopathy, Reiki, acupuncture, et cetera is in my opinion not an adequately trained MD. Even if one has finished medical school. To believe in magic and use it to “treat” patients instantly removes any trust I might have in the medical expertise of such a person. You cannot have gone to medical school without noticing the silliness of what is called CAM. ”
actually I agree with this and I dont care who I offend… Osteaopathy used to be totally quack medicine,the founder was nuts… But over the years it has lost alot (all?) of the craziness and they are pretty much the same as MDs (and MDs have adopted some of the better ostepathy practices)
But I read (every day)and like everyone who has posted above me (I guess that is kinda weasly)
Nescio,
Fake apology dismissed.
You were attempting your own bit of magical spin with the mention of CAM … seek out a less sophisticated blog for such ignorant silliness.
From the linked article:
“His roommate at the Okemos apartment, according to the transcripts, said he lost count of the number of dogs that died or disappeared.”
Good catch Michaelb.
The article also says he was under the care of a psychiatrist and according to the psychiatrist he may be suicidal.
This is one sad, sick person. Those dogs, and taking his illness out on them, may have been the only thing between him and murder or suicide. He would get upset that they didn’t come when called or seem to want to be with him. He’s got issues and it would be a good thing to put him in a hospital and hope he gets better.
I am torn about the way an insanity or mental defect plea works. If someone is in fact mentally ill then they are not competent to reign in their anti-social impulses. If they get better they are then tried for their crimes, crimes they could not keep themselves from committing because they were mentally ill.
While it may satisfy the social impulse to punish people for their crimes (it sure is satisfying to me) it seems misplaced to do so when insanity is involved. It’s like forcing someone to take medication so they can be executed. It’s like forcing Jerod Laughtner to be medicated so he won’t have access to an insanity plea or can meet the burden of participating in his own defense, a lesser burden but in many states crucial to invoking an insanity defense. (That is reading knowledge- if the lawyers here have other practicing knowledge please enlighten me.) It just doesn’t seem fair. It may well be law and legal but it rubs me the wrong way on an intellectual level.
Michaelb,
“BTW, not mentioned here, there was a roommate during all this time.”
Michael Vick?
BTW, not mentioned here, there was a roommate during all this time.
In Thompson’s case, I cannot imagine a stronger case for a maximum sentence absent a possible mental illness defense.~article
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Is there a question that he is mentally ill?
WHY would there be a question that he is mentally ill?
Nescio, you are wrong. Not so much offensive….just wrong.
“I did not mean to offend anybody, if I have sorry for that.”
(emphasis mine)
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That is what is called a ‘weasel’ apology. Especially when taken with the large dose of pixel vomit that immediately preceded.
Go right ahead being ignorant. It’s your right. The average DO is every bit as well trained as an MD. Many get MD residencies and fellowships, as did my son. As I pointed out, the curriculum is identical to an MD medical school, with the exception they get an additional several hundred hours of diagnostics, in addition to learning to do manipulations. Now what is wrong with having MORE classroom hours of diagnostics if you are going to practice medicine?
And yes, you not only offended me, but it is clear that you have offended many or most of the other sentient beings who inhabit this blog. There is no “if” about it.
Let me clarify: anyone that practises homeopathy, osteopathy, Reiki, acupuncture, et cetera is in my opinion not an adequately trained MD. Even if one has finished medical school. To believe in magic and use it to “treat” patients instantly removes any trust I might have in the medical expertise of such a person. You cannot have gone to medical school without noticing the silliness of what is called CAM.
I did not mean to offend anybody, if I have sorry for that.
Cheers.
I have a feeling the guy has derailed any hope he ever has of working in any health related field. I cannot imagine any health service provider school being willing to keep him on as a student.