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Shelley Nicole Vaughn, 46, of Clearwater Beach, was arrested last Monday and now faces charges of aggravated animal cruelty against a dog, criminal mischief, and domestic battery according to Pinellas County Sheriffâs Office online booking records.
Eric Adeson was at his condominium in Clearwater Beach on a Sunday when he was visited by Vaughn, whom heâd been dating for several months, WFLA -TV reports.
According to Adeson, the couple got into an argument before Vaughn threw his 3-year-old pug, Bucky, off the balcony. Vaughn also tossed Adesonâs keys and cellphone from the balcony and struck him, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The dog was soon found dead below on the pavement.
Katherine Neal, an attorney representing Adeson, filed a civil complaint against Vaughn on Monday in the Pinellas County Clerk of Court office, seeking $30,000 in damages. Vaughn was released after posting $20,000 bail, according to online booking records.
While this action is heinous in nature, when thinking of animal cruelty, itâs rare to think of anyone other than Michael Vick, who served 18 months (three times the amount most people receive) in federal prison after admitting in 2007 that he participated in illegal dog fighting, the killing of dogs, and operating a business enterprise that involved illegal gambling. He also agreed to pay for the care of the surviving dogs.
Dog or no dog, racism exists in America.
A Change.org petition named âNFL: Stop Michael Vick from being Pro Bowl Captain,â which got more than 435,000 signatures, said this in its bio: âMike Vick does not deserve the honor of being Pro Bowl Captain. He is a convicted felon and a known animal abuser, is this who we want our children to look up to?â
PETA launched countless protests and character-smearing attacks on Vick. CNBC pushed for Nike to drop him, and after losing millions of NFL dollars while incarcerated, once released he was still protested and viewed as public enemy No. 1.
Mike Vick was the face of dogfighting, and in a complete 180-degree turn became the face of animal rights after months and months of giving shirt-tucked-in impassioned speeches about his unique experience and upbringing that influenced his dogfighting. Yet, for some reason many dog lovers havenât and never will forgive Vick.
We live in two different Americas.
While Michael Vickâs admitted crimes were cruel and he inarguably provided an infrastructure for dogfighting and murder to occur, Vaughnâs ability to have her Karen-moment and play a get-out-of-jail card highlights the massive imbalance of justice in America.
During Womenâs History Month, much like Black History Month, conversations are had around the subject of equality as society strives to become our collective best self. If this White woman were equal to that Black man, perhaps Vaughn would be in prison right now, too.
You’re confusing bail with a criminal sentence. All that happened is the woman received bail. It will likely be months before we know what happens with her criminal case. Vick also was released on bail before ultimately pleading guilty. It’s also the difference between one dog killed and tons of dogs killed as part of a criminal money making conspiracy. It was simply a far more serious set of charges with Vick.
This is the wackiest comparison Iâve read in a long time.
Agreed!
Vick posted bail too, you race-baiting imbecile. True this chick isn’t going to get 18 months, but she isn’t running a dog fighting ring or electrocuting multiple dogs at once in a swimming pool, is she? Nice piece of hack “journalism,” you clown.
Race had nothing to do with the story, so calling her “Karen” is nauseatingly racist. If a white woman is a “Karen,” then a black man like yourself is a “Tom.”
If you want to inject race into it, for every crazy story concerning a white person, there are about a hundred concerning black people.
So youâre a racist? Thank you for making it obvious
I noticed that the Black Wall Street Journal’s motto is ” Injustice anywhere is a threat for injustice everywhere” or something to that effect. I looked for your email address but couldn’t find it. I was going to post on your FB page until I found this. While looking on your FB page I read your posts about the injustices of black people. Well you also perpetuate a problem for me. People like you who “Karen” anything bad. Do you know how much harassment I’ve gotten for my name? I didn’t choose my name anymore than you chose to be black. I could change my name, but why? YOU need to stop this cos you are keeping injustice going towards other people. I know it may seem trivial, but I’m a pretty nice person as are the other Karens that I have known. I”m tired of the Karenisms. The woman who toss the poor dog out the window was Shelly. You know life has gotten so much better for black people since I was a little girl. You don’t know how good you have it. You just want to keep that racism going because it benefits you. You don’t understand what it is to be white. there is a lot less prejudice whites than there are prejudice blacks. I will have to say that most of the prejudice blacks are people your age or younger. I’ve taken care of older black people and there is nothing awkward between us. We are just nice to each other and accept each other as people. We are just people. you kinda need to settle down and look around and see where the prejudice lies and stop stirring the pot for blacks and for Karens.
I agree- And Headlining this with âKarenâ is as though youâre putting a comical spin on the story. I donât see anything funny about Shellyâs actions. Do better and stop trying to be the cool kid!
She should be locked up for good for
Killing that poor dog!! He did nothing wrong!! He could not defend himself. I am so tired of animals being mistreated and nobody being held accountable!!
They should throw her ugly self off a balcony
Killing someone’s pet is akin to killing someone’s child. Life for the murdering b####
Absolutely! Lock her up and throw away the key!
âThere is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongsâpartly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.” Booker T. Washington
This article has some valid points but please would you change the title to âkills him (not it) in argumentâ. What a terrifying and cruel death for that innocent puppy.
She should be in jail.
Iâm sorry, but this comparison is so far out of left field and Iâm struggling to see the need to compare a dog being killed to racism. In this scenario, one has nothing to do with the other. Both acts of animal cruelty by this woman and by Vick were atrocities, but this woman killing this dog has literally nothing to do with racism. When I think of animal cruelty, Michael Vick is not even the first person that I think ofâĤ and besides, Michael Vick was still actively playing in the NFL for years after the incidents, was he not? In addition to this, Michael Vick killed and tortured hundreds of dogs, not just one. The sentence is obviously going to be more severe if you are doing this to multiple animals instead of one.
I think that it would be much more pertinent to bring up these issues separately – dedicating the time that is deserved to each. Racism is an epidemic in our country, and it deserves to be addressed separately from a story about a crazy woman killing her boyfriendâs dog.
She is demented and should go straight to jail. A fine is like a slap on the hand.
These stories are so unrelated that it makes this article hard to read. It comes off bizarre. Itâs just bad writing IMO.
What kind of unstable, demented, evil person does this? She Better do some time, and I hope he sues her in Civil court, an takes everything she has! This is wrong, on so many levels! She should be forced into mental care afterwards!!!
I stopped reading after you claimed that when people think of animal cruelty they think of Micheal Vick. Wrong! When I think of animal cruelty I think of all the jerks charged in the recent article and not something that happened years ago. Stay in the damn present and stop trying to bring up something that happened years ago and who did their time. So lame.
Vaughn clearly has issues and should be charged for animal cruelty, assault and whatever else they come up with like they do us all the time.
Most (not all) of you White folks commenting on this article are blinded by your bigotry (conscious or subconscious). Whether youâre talking about bail, jail, indictment, conviction, degrees of crime or whatever, the bottom line is that there is disparate treatment of Blacks in the American justice system. Thatâs actually the gist of the article, but you would rather nitpick about criminal procedure and number of dogs killed â and totally disregard a deep problem plaguing America. That crazy Karen woman in Florida (if ever tried and convicted) will get, at most, a very light sentence for what she did. Secondly, even if she had committed and been convicted of the crimes for which Michael Vick served prison time, Miss Karen still would get only a light sentence (maybe house arrest for a week or two). Wake up, folks! This is America âĤ and thatâs how it has been in this country since our forefathers were dragged here in chains hundreds of years ago. Disparate sentencing is nothing new to us, nor is White reaction to criminals according to race. Michael Vick served prison time, and later apologized and became a dutiful citizen, and yet White Americans are still lashing out at him. If he were White, you would be talking about how he paid his debt to society â no matter the degree of the crime. How many of you got enraged when a White California college student, who was convicted of rape (2016), was sentenced to six months in prison? If you were enraged, are you still lashing out at him? Of course not! To you, Brock Turner was a good ole American White boy out there having fun, right? I realize that my comments do not address what YOU want me to address, but I had to get down to the nitty-gritty â that which you do not want to talk about. You can call me any kind of names that you like. As singer Kelly Clarkson would say, âWhat doesnât kill me makes me stronger.â
âAs long as the underlying cause of true, it doesnât matter how illogical, misleading, erroneous, or irrelevant the argument is. The article doesnât need to make sense or be accurate because the basic point is true!â
This what passes for journalism on this website? Yikes.!
â This is America âĤ and thatâs how it has been in this country since our forefathers were dragged here in chains hundreds of years ago.â Who needs to be in the present!? Who brings color into EVERY conservation EVERY sentence and Anything said?? Who segregates who? Honestly do you even know a slave from 400 years ago? I sure know I donât know any slave owners.
Bruh, I need you to understand that this article is really dumb and bad and very much discredits your cause, which Iâm sure is well meaning.
For me, itâs not just that the argument is so bad thatâs so alarming but that you put so little thought and effort into it and still felt confident enough to publish it.
I guess itâs good that you donât know what a bond is though.
Apply yourself, my brother.