Thanks to Sarah for barking in about this important petition. This abuser needs to be taken off the street for a long, long time! Please note that the petition calls for Atkind’s expulsion from Cornell. While this may not seem like a harsh enough penalty for this crime, it is a serious penalty and will hopefully both let Atkind know he HAS done something wrong and mark his record for the rest of his life so others will be alerted to his emotional sickness.

Sarah wrote:
Dear Joy,

I hope you can put this on the Dogster Blog to sprtead the word about yet another terrible case of animal abuse. A student of Cornell University severely abused a dog left in his care. He beat the dog to the point where the skull of the poor pup could be seen and then proceeded to pour bleach over the animal. This is absolutely terrible and there is no excuse for this.

Even worse the person who did it does not feel any remorse and says that he would do it again.

Our fellow dogster Cera Marie has started a petition against this person. Please take a moment to sign it.

We can not let this happen and stand and watch. Let’s speak up for the ones who can’t!

Follow this link to sign the petition.

Here is part of the news report from the Ithaca Journal:

Cornell student charged with torturing animal
Man allegedly beat, poured bleach on dog
From Journal Staff Reports

ITHACA A 23-year-old Cornell student from the Boston area, taking care of another person’s dog for a night, was charged with beating it and pouring bleach on it, leaving it with diminished eyesight for life, the Ithaca Police Department said.

Alexander H. Atkind, 23, of 710 Stewart Ave., Apt. 8 and of Lexington, Mass., was charged with overdriving, torturing and injuring animals” in violation of a section of the state Agriculture and Markets law. The offense is a misdemeanor. He was released with a ticket to appear in Ithaca City Court on Wednesday, March 21.

According to an Ithaca police report, the case began when the owner of the dog contacted the police department at 4 a.m. Saturday, March 10. The dog’s owner told the investigating officer he’d left his dog, later identified as a black-and-white, 30-pound Labrador-pit bull mix named Princess, in the care of Atkind while spending Thursday night, March 8, at a family member’s house.

On Friday, March 9, the dog’s owner talked to Atkind on the phone, who said the dog had chewed on a speaker wire Atkind owned. Atkind told the owner he’d beaten Princess, and poured bleach and laundry detergent on her, but the dog was all right. Late Friday, the owner came home and found the dog severely beaten and called police.
The officer found the apartment and kennel area in disarray, with dog food, bleach and detergent spilled. The dog had a laceration 1 inch by 2 inches wide, and some of its skull was showing through, according to the officer’s report. He called the Cornell University veterinary hospital and took the dog there for evaluation. The next day, he was told by the attending veterinarian that the dog suffered chemical burns to its face, eyes, back, groin area and paws. It would likely have diminished eyesight the rest of its life, and it had blood in its stool, probably from ingesting some bleach by licking itself.

The officer called Atkind, who admitted beating the dog, and agreed to come talk further at police headquarters, according to the police report. There, he was formally charged but refused to speak further without an attorney present. He was given a ticket for city court and released.

The officer noted in his report that Atkind acted cocky and arrogant” and made numerous comments that this incident meant nothing to him, that he would do it again, and that he knows how the criminal justice system works, and guaranteed me the prosecution of this case would result in an ACD in City Court.” The reference is to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal,” in which a judge typically tells a defendant to stay out of trouble for a period of time and the case will be dismissed.

Follow this link to read the rest of the article.

Perhaps the most information on Atkind comes from the Cornell Blog: An Unofficial Blog about Cornell University. Seems that Atkind has never been Mr. Popularity, based in large part on his inability to get along with others.