BTK killer suspect is dog catcher who shot dogs in a rage

Big news lately is that police believe they have caught the BTK serial killer -- BTK being short for "Blind, Torture and Kill." The story was on the front pages of the Sunday, February 27, New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and is in hundreds of papers around the world. I had only skimmed an article on it, and must thank Gloria Steinem, best known as a feminist leader but who is also a compassionate supporter of animal advocacy, for drawing my attention to Dennis Rader's profession -- he is a dog catcher. Though many articles on him omit that, the Los Angeles Times article mentions it right near the top. It opens:

"He called himself a monster, but in 31 years of hunting the serial killer known as BTK, Wichita police made it clear they were searching for a man who appeared in every way ordinary. On Saturday, they announced they finally had caught him.

"Dennis Rader, 59, a church-going family man, a Cub Scout leader, a dog-catcher for the trim suburb of Park City, is in custody on suspicion of torturing and killing seven women, one man and two children from 1974 to
1991 -- including two victims linked only this week to BTK."

(You can read the whole article, headed "Family Man Arrested in 10 Slayings"
at http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-btk27feb27,1,5758127.story )

Studies have revealed that the vast majority of serial killers practiced on animals. Those of us in the animal advocacy community, who understand the link between how human society treats members of other species and how humans treat each other, might not be surprised to learn that the man who is allegedly responsible for the horrific murders, made his living rounding up stray dogs for extermination. For now it is only my hypothesis, but an idea grounded in the research on serial killers, that some of those dogs were Rader's first torture victims. We might learn more about that as Rader's trial gets under way.

Meanwhile, I thank Karen Michael, from the Animal Defense League of Arizona, for sending a page from the ABC news website, (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=535740&page=1 ) which includes the following:

"Watched Him Shoot a Dog

"Barry said that she once watched as Rader shot a neighbor's dog in front of the owners, Barry and her children.

"'If he didn't like the way animals were being treated in the neighborhood, he was right there to push the law on making it go his way,' Barry told 'Good Morning America' in an exclusive interview.

"Barry said she and her children were out on their front lawn one day, and a neighbor from across the street was outside with his dog. In his capacity as a dog catcher and ordinance officer, Barry said Rader approached the dog and allegedly tried to mace it.

"But, according to Barry, the 'wind blew the mace back in his face.' She says Rader groped for his tranquilizer gun, but couldn't get to it. That's when he allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the dog."

Mary Lou Randour, the Program Director of Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has written an excellent essay on the link between animal and human cruelty, which discusses the animal cruelty background of many serial killers. You will find it on line at:
http://www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/invest/randour.html

The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters [at] latimes.com -- but the story is appearing in every paper. While the media has not focused on the connection between Rader's insensitivity to dogs and the pleasure he took in hurting people, CNN has mentioned that Rader is a dog-catcher and ABC has covered the dog shooting. I hope people will write to their local papers, where they have the greatest chance of being published (some of the smaller papers publish close to 100% of the letters they receive) noting Rader's background and reminding people of the link between human and animal cruelty and the ways society can benefit if we take the latter seriously. The BTK victims have given us an opportunity to speak on behalf of all those who have faced similar horrors.

Don’t hesitate to ask me for help if you have trouble finding the correct address for a letter to your editor. And I am always happy to edit letters. Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)