" you are absolutly correct they should all three be punished, but how severe. by his record mr. hartford should get maximum and more. but what about the other two. it makes me sick to think that maybe if you looked at all there records, or lack there of. you'll see that mr.welch and that kyle kid have little to none. how do we not know that these to were being manipulated by the older mr hartford. the proof that shows that maybe this may be true was the fact that they would never have been caught if mr. welch had not told the police about it. that maybe he is just an unfortunate lost soul who needs alot of therapy. maybe they both looked up to mr. hartford, and he should be the most held responsible. there are worse things happening in our lives, like rape and murder. and puting our lifes pains and aggression on those two boys. expeccialy the ones trying to repair the damage and taking responsibilty for there actions is wrong. lets help these kids the right way, and not doom them to a life where they are hated by all. lets focus on brandon hartford with our convictions. and hope kyle and mr. welch can get the help they truly need. "

" jb2008, a large portion of my family are farmers. And they rely on cats to keep mice from their crops, especially the grain bins. Now when the FDA backs down on those pesky "no mouse droppings in peoples food" bit I am sure my relatives will be more than willing to keep their cats indoors or leashed. But until that day, it just works better if the cats are roaming free when doing their job. I can't imagine them catching too many mice while owner is in tow. "

" I happen to know that Hartford is just plain ole bad. He has been in and out of trouble multiple times. It's relaly a shame that the othe rguys happened to fall in with him. My hope is that Hartford gets a lot of time in prison. The other 2 boys still have hope for a future with the proper help and punishment. One of them has never been in trouble with the law at all in anyway so maybe he can get the help he needs. Hartford on the other hand is a hardened criminal and should be treated as such. "

" In my opinoin, Our community has spoken out for harsh punishment for one reason: these criminals pose a FUTURE threat to our well being. With the proper incarcaration, counseling, and rehabilitation they may earn the right to re-enter normal society. If they are slapped on the wrist, who knows where that may lead.
It appears the public (based on the comments), and well as I, want the full sentence handed down. Doubtful this will happen to the first-time offenders. "

" these "men" make me sick. i understand that there is more in this town/state/world going on... but this is there stepping stone to go to bigger killings. what if they didnt like children? i have a friend who just recently got out of jail and hartford was in the same pod and was bragging and said "when i get out im just going to kill more cats!" words that came out of his mouth do not make me feel safe. i dont care if someone dislikes something but it is NEVER a reason to harm something "

" I have read everyone's comments since the whole situation began and have heard various different types of responses. Some people say "they are just cats", some say "these people need to be tortured as the cats were", and others are saying these individuals are going to eventually become serial killers. I am not here to state my feelings in the matter because I was not one of the victims in the case. I am here to pose a question to everyone that is up in arms over the killings of these cats. All of you should be ashamed of yourself. I say you should be ashamed because there have been worse crimes committed in this state/city since this matter has started and yet everyone has time to blog over this matter. I am assuming people heard of the boy in Browning that was murdered by his "mother" (I use that term lightly with people of this caliber of parenting). He was them placed in a trunk of the family car and left for 2-3 months. On top of this, the mother was arrested by police when she fled a patrolman, ran into a parked car, was under the influence of god knows what, and was on probation. All this while having her other child in the backseat! I gave everyone some time to come around, but still the number 1 (possibly #1 and #3) topic of people's concerns are these cats. I guess the life of a cat is equal to a life of a two-year old child. I know everyone says "We are concerned with this matter because Honzel is going to give them a slap on the wrist". Well, this woman could very well claim PTSD (being newly released from Prison) for the fault of killing her child. They could possibly diagnose her for accidentally putting her shoes on the wrong feet that day. It seems like it is easier for people to get off on these crimes today. The point I am trying to make is this COME ON PEOPLE, you rant and rave about the lives of cats, which I do support you on so don't get me wrong, and neglect to even comment on the killing of a child. All of you should take a moment and step away from this situation and realize that there is more happening in this state/city/world than these cats. There are children being neglected by parents, child molesters, and robberies that make the paper each day. Still, we choose to rant about cats instead of other things. I know that the blogs will get the attention of the courts. OKAY, you have made your point. Move on! Now let's band together on a different issue to ensure a child molester, murderer, or neglecting parent doesn't get the slap on the wrist. If the public makes a unified and appropriate demonstration in a matter, the courts have to know what the public feels. The courts know what you feel. Let's just move on already! "

" Nice to know they'll be free to roam the streets in no time. "

" These men treated these animals horribly and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law i also don`t doubt the owners of the cats loved them very much. . . but no domestic animal should be allowed to roam free (cats and dogs especially) these men didn`t lure cats out of the safety of their owners homes did they? even if the cats were in a fenced yard what would stop them from leaving the safety of the yard i have never known a cat to be contained by a fence nor have i ever heard of anyone being required to license a cat (like dogs) perhaps if tame animals were licensed their owners would be encouaged to keep them under control(not that anyone should have to worry about some one intentionally killing them) "

" Don't let the babyface looks of Kyle Hollowell fool you!!!! Ted Bundy did not look like a killer eiter. Bail should not have been posted for Kyle. Hopefully he will not take the lives of anymore innocent cats. If my son had of done something like this, I would have made him stay in jail. My cats are house cats. However, there are times when an animal can slip out the door or live in a barn. Whatever the cicumstance is. NONE OF THESE CATS deserved to die in such a cruel, inhumane, senseless way!!! Throw away the key on these guys. "

" jb2008 do you really think it's the same as the deer thing? BIG diff between shooting a deer in the head to keep them from running in traffic and skinning and burning a house cat. If you can't see the diff maybe you should get some help too. "

" Rich kid??? Just because they dressed him up and put a tie on him - he is not from a "rich" family - actually from a poor family - and he has a scarry background too. He was in a home for trouble youths when he was pretty young - oh ya - he got alot better!!! Not sure how he got the $$$ for the bond. But still think he should have been wearing one of those orange suits - and where is he now???
He never was taken care of before, so hope he moves out of state. Maybe he will move to AZ. - Sheriff Joe would love to have him down there - he is a big animal lover, and puts these kind of guys in bright pink suits, they live in tents in the desert. I will even help buy him a ticket to go down there!!!! "

" They didn't like cats. Anybody happen to ask them how they feel about people.... "

" Step 1 = abduct and torture animals. Step 2 = Abduct and torture children.
Mere slap on the wrist and probation for step 1 seem ok to everyone? "

" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/nyregion/06rape.html

When your child ends up like like the student in this news report at the hands of one of these cat killers. You can thank MT law. "

" The county attorney office has set up a website for people to go in and petition that these guys get the maximum punishment for their crimes and show that we as a community are not going to put up with animal abuse. Here is the website:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/men-torture-kill-cats-in-helena-montana "

" Torture is not ok....If the cats were not suppose to be out that changes nothing. I do not think that the deer will be tortured.
Mikimouse "

" JB2008: Whoa there!! How do you know that the cats were not on "their" own property? Not only that, who's to say that some of the cats didn't "sneak" away from their home to explore, sniff, and just see what's on the other side of the boundary? Just like my dogs sometimes get out of our fenced yard, and if someone comes to the gate - my dogs would certainly go. My dogs like to explore and go for adventures just as any pet does!!! So who are you to say that people don't love their cats? You apparently are not an animal lover and therefore you need to keep quiet about things you are not knowledgeable about. Ok? "

" For anyone that's interested here's the link to the one guy's correctional profile and his list of previous felonies that include burglary and criminal mischief.
http://app.mt.gov/cgi-bin/conweb/conwebLookup.cgi?docid=2014715 "

" ONE felony count for TWO dozen criminal acts?
If I had to guess: They'll plead guilty (plea deal), be fined, sentenced to jail/prison (all suspended), do some community service, and be put on probation. I'm sure to comfort the public, the judge will order them to undergo counseling too. We'll see them on the streets in no time. "

" So, JB2008 are you saying we should be able to bait toture and kill anything around town. Does this include luring children from their yards? What is going to stop these sickos at cats? I don't agree with the deer solution; but, at least they will not be burned alive. I agree spay and neuter will reduce the amount of homeless animals, but lets not forget some of these animals were lured off their owners property. "

" Animal cruelty laws are very light in comparison to the act. This leads to the suspicion these 3 people will likely get no more than a slap on the wrist.

Remember the drunk guy that drug his horse to death out of Three Forks? They stuffed the bloody body in the back of the trailer. What was his fine? If I remember correctly he was banned from the NRA (Northern Rodeo Assoc) and fined $500. "

" These guys are pretty evil people. I hope that they get whatever the court system can legally do to them. There is an issue here that might not be favored by everyone, letting your cats run free, there is a leash law. But further, if you truly are a cat owner, it is your duty to keep your cat on your property. I know that is difficult, but it can be done and given the fact that we have this type of eliment in our community, it would be the best thing to do for your animal. The other thing here is this, we are making a huge uproar over the killing of these cats, which I am in favor of, but there is more commotion of the deaths of these animals then there ever has been over the rape, murder or abuse of a child. While I want to see these cat killers get as much as they possibly can for what they did, I would also like to see this much interest and outrage over the abuse of our children. "

" Why havent these guys also been charged with vandalism, trespassing, theft, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct. Did the value of these cats exceed the amount to include larceny charges? Seems like this is going thier way. I bet they are still laughing about it saying man they were just cats. I am willing to bet the easier they go on these guys the harder people in the community will go on them. This is Helena home of the vigilantees! "

" to jb2008. First of all just because the cats are out roaming doesn't mean the owner loves them any less. Also if the Helena PD were say torturing the deer or burning them alive then yes I would say give then prison time, but no they are not they are giving them a very quick death and in all actuality donating the meat to places like gods love and others who might need it. These guys get everything they have comeing to them if not more. "

" The clarification here, for all you posters, is that the "felony" charge for animal cruelty is ONE charge for any number of animals above 10. That's why these suspects are being charged one count. It is the law. However, we are looking into the specifics of the law, which seems more applicable at this point to "animal neglect" rather than "animal cruelty." Right now they're under the same umbrella. We're going to work to change that. "

" I agree that each cat carries a count of cruelty. Was Dahmer charged with a single count of murder or several? And yeah, what's the rich kid doing on the streets? I suppose it's easier to post bail when you obstruct an officer after burning cats than it is if you were trying to clean up blood. These guys need to be held accountable or we'll see them again with a bigger dead animal, guaranteed. There is NOTHING ILLEGAL about letting your cat out of the house... and I wouldn't feel better about these pukes if it were squirrels, deer, birds, OR skunks. "

" I sounds like they are only being charged with one count of animal cruelty. They should be charged multiple counts considering the amount of cats they killed. I'm sorry to say this but I don't have much faith that the justice system won't let these creeps off without doing any prison time. I am sure the oldest one will probably do more time than the other two considering he's already on probation and I hope the two younger ones don't just get a slap on the wrist. "

" It looks like the Hartford kid is on probation. He has a list of four pervious felonies. He is really being supervised well. I thought probations goal was community safety. Don't they do home checks on these guys? Oh, wait, I guess there are bigger fish to fry. Maybe when these kids kill a person we will punish them. This is a joke and I think it is an outrage. "

" So. Let me get this straight. These guys baited these animals and then killed them? Has anyone ever driven around town and seen how many cats are out running the streets? Seems as if these owners loved thier animals, they would have a nice little cat box and a stand in the front window for thier furry little loved ones.

Also, is it ok for the Helena PD sharp shooters to bait deer and shoot them? Should they receive a prison sentence for what they do?

As Bob Barker would say, please spay or neuter your pets and keep them on your property. "

" This story is such a tragedy. My heart goes out to all who lost their special little cat. I am sure that these men are all troubled souls but this does not justify their actions. If this is how they treat something that they have a dislike for, lets be glad that they don't have a dislike for children or a certain race or a religous sect of people. May God have mercy on their souls. I pray for all involved. "

" I believe that if they killed at least 24 cats, that counts at 24 crimes. They should receive 24 times the prison time, and 24 times the bail. That should teach them and keep our community safe from their harmful ways. "

" Ten years hardly seems long enough. Isn't this how serial killers start? "

" I can not give enough voice to the disgust, outrage, and angery towards these three vile, contemptable, worthless,scumbags. They do not deserve to be treated any more humanly than they treated those poor animals. My tax dollars are not ment to be spent for housing and feeding such vile creatures as these three. They deserve far greater punishment than they will receive under the current animal cruelty laws in Montana. Predatory individuals such as these with history of animal cruelty can become predatory towards humans as well.. Send them out, naked and defensless let the animals receive thier own kind of punishment. "

" I certainly hope the maximum of $2500 and two years in prison is for EACH cat they tortured!!! This is not to be taken THAT lightly. "

" I do not condone animal cruelty, and I think what they did was wrong. However I have to ask why the pet cats were out? There is a county statute regarding pet care. Cat owners should not let their pets run free.. "

" All 3 are gulity!!! Why is the baby face kid not in jail??? Posted bond?
There should never had been a bond set.
Makes me sick --- this mean he is going to play the "disturbed" card? Who came up with the 25,000 bond? Legal services where his mommy works?
This is crap - they all should be in jail/prison for 2 yrs or more - or better yet, a yr.for each cat they killed or torchered!!!!!!!!! "