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Alleged animal abuser has criminal record

By Ray Gomez

Story Created: Sep 14, 2009

Story Updated: Sep 14, 2009

An update on one of the most devastating acts of animal cruelty our cameras have ever caught on tape.

The owner of a horse that died in El Cenizo has already been arrested, but this isn't the first time this person has been involved in a case of abuse.

The owner arrested was involved in a very high profile case back in 2005.

50-year-old Graciela Gonzalez has been arrested and charged with cruelty to animals, this after she allegedly abandoned her horses in El Cenizo.

One, fighting for its life, and later euthanized by a local veterinarian, but this isn't the first time Graciela has been a person of interest in a case involving abuse.

Back in 2005, she was ordered to serve one-year probation for failure to report child abuse in the tragic death of Shanae Casares.

The young girl beaten to death by her stepfather, and her body later dumped by him and her mother at Lake Casa Blanca.

Graciela is the mother of the man who ultimately killed the little girl.

"It was really grotesque, cruelty to that child. The interesting thing here is that this is the parent of the man who was convicted of that murder. So you have an abuse of a child linked to a family allegedly abusing animals."

Graciela was not the only one convicted of wrong doing in that case.

Her husband and son, Freddie, also plead guilty to failure to report child abuse, and her son, René, is serving a life sentence for the murder of Shanae.

"Child and animal protection professionals have established the link between animal abuse, family violence, and other forms of community violence as a self perpetuating cycle of cruelty."

Graciela has not been convicted of being cruel to animals, only charged, but experts say in many cases signs of animal abuse can be linked with other types of abuse.

"80 to 88% of those criminals acts, these were individuals who also abused animals."