Althouse: "Animal rights activist, 31 of her dogs found dead in garage."

November 10, 2013

"Animal rights activist, 31 of her dogs found dead in garage."

"Cops said they believe 62-year-old Sandra Lertzman, of Moreland Hills, Ohio, committed suicide but aren’t sure how long she and the animals were dead inside a running vehicle before they were discovered."

14 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'm not sure how many rights those animals had...; 11/10/13, 8:28 AM
Michael The Magnificent said...: The picture I get of her reminds me of a neighbor I once had. A heart of gold, but she was a lunatic.

She had an unknown number of cats living in her basement, a half dozen cats living with them, and three dogs.

She used to feed her neighbor's dogs, even those that were grossly overweight.; 11/10/13, 9:17 AM
Unknown said...: Why is it that so many of these people feel the need for company when they decide to off themselves ? Who are they so angry with, and why, that they feel a need to punish those that they have abandoned ? Suicide is a horrible thing to do to your family/significant other/friends. Do you have to worsen it by taking those who don't want to go with you, or those who can't speak for themselves. Geez are they that hateful of everyone else too ? If you want to go that bad, go, but do you have to shit on everyone else too ?; 11/10/13, 9:23 AM
Sam L. said...: Edward L., otherwise she'd have to turn them loose or let them starve until someone found what she'd done. Neither would be "humane".; 11/10/13, 10:07 AM
Unknown said...: Sam L., seems to me that she could have planned for them beyond killing them.; 11/10/13, 10:36 AM
Anonymous said...: You lost me at 'animal rights activist'; 11/10/13, 10:55 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Directly analagous to Obamacare and liberalism in general. Tragic about the dogs, though. Hopefully, she burns in Hell.; 11/10/13, 12:09 PM
FullMoon said...: No insight in story as to motive. Terminal illness? Poverty? Canceled health insurance?

No doubt she loved her dogs and believed they would be better off dead.

Most of the comments at the site are the usual"If it were me I would have" and "Why didn't she...?

There seems to be more murder- suicides where the whole family is killed these days.; 11/10/13, 12:15 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Urgh. It sounds like she took an overdose herself, and assumed the dogs would die of the fumes. Which they would, eventually. But not quickly or easily, since the advent of the catalytic converter. No quick unconsciousness from the carbon monoxide these days.

For an animal rights activist, she seems to have been singularly clueless about the amount of suffering her grand gesture was going to cause her pets.; 11/10/13, 12:48 PM
Matt Sablan said...: Let's not think there's any rational reason she had for killing the dogs with her. It might have been as simple as thinking they'd be better off dead than alone and abandoned, or it could have been as crazy as thinking that she could take them with her, wherever she was going, like in ancient burial customs.

We don't know -- speculation is healthy, but I hate it because, ultimately, I come back to, "We don't know."; 11/10/13, 2:05 PM
CityofMisfitToys said...: "You don't have any idea why she decided to die!" (from the comments on the originating page)

Exactly right, I don't know why, but I do know she didn't have to take the dogs with her. Be insane and suicidal alone, you don't need company.; 11/10/13, 6:07 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: She killed 31 dogs by suffocating them with poison gas. They died suffering, gasping for breath, not understanding what was happening to them.

If she was still alive, she'd go to jail for animal cruelty.

Don't minimize the crime because she killed herself. That just makes it worse, not better.

Look at the result of what she did, not whatever stupid motivation she had. It doesn't matter.; 11/10/13, 10:53 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: What distinguishes "animal rights activist" from "crazy dog/cat/whatever lady"?; 11/11/13, 1:57 PM
XXCE Linux said...: Did anybody ever think of the possibility that some disgruntled puppy mill owner murdered Ms. Lertzman and the dogs and made it look like Lertzman smothered herself and the dogs via carbon monoxide? They need to do a toxicology report on her remains to determine if she was drugged.; 11/24/13, 4:11 PM