Do dogs feel remorse ?

Luke Mitchell serving forty years confinement followed by life imprisonment at her Majesty's pleasure because he took his dog with him.

No one knows if the dog feels remorse or not. Or even if the dog understands what he is responsible for.

Its like this: Luke Mitchell was a fairly normal 14 year old kid. A number of witnesses observed him sitting on a fence in a calm manner and appearing clean and presentable while waiting for his girlfriend, also 14, to walk along Dyke's Path, Easthouses, Midlothian.

After tiring of the long wait and assuming he had been stood up, he went home and discovered the girlfriend was missing and for some reason her family was searching for her. Although puzzled by the family''s sudden and newly-found interest in their daughter's welfare, Luke Mitchell went out to search Dyke's Path and took along his dog.

After passing an eroded low point in the wall, Luke was pulled back by his dog who became agitated and tried to scramble the wall. It was the dog that lead Luke Mitchell to the corpse, but police immediately concluded Luke knew the corpse was there and was the one who had killed her.

In addition to Luke, who was clean and calm and on a fence at the time of the murder, there are four men who where dissheveled and who tried to radically alter their appearance immediately after the murder. These four men each left biological fluids on, in or inconveniently close to the 14 year old girl's corpse. None of the four were ever considered to be suspects much less arrested or charged. Luke Mitchell, whose dna was not found at the crime scene was charged. Those with an interest in sociology might wonder why the victim's sister later married the man who left most of the dna at the murder scene.

The final review of his case noted his improper questioning, the lack of a solicitor, the absurd claim by the police that he was merely thought to be a witness, not a suspect, the newspapers descriptions of him and the police leaks. The Review concludes that his human rights were violated but there is no reason to consider him not guilty anyway.

Poor mutt. He probably recognized Jodi's smells as well as the smell of blood and thought he was doing the right thing in leading Luke to the scene. Forty years in maximum security followed by an indeterminate life sentence. The poor dog just probably doesn't understand the Scottish courts. Neither do I.

I'm having some trouble connecting the dots in this story. That being the case, what chance does the dog have?

I don't know if dogs have any emotions, or can ever feel remorse. But assuming they can, I can't see this dog feeling remorse in this case.

Fact check : "He was sentenced to detention without limit of time with a minimum of 20 years."

I remember the case quite well, as I was working with various Scottish police forces at the time. I'm not going to pass any further comment, as I have no opinion on the Mitchell's innocence.

The dog has nothing to be remorseful about.

It's a life sentence for the dog...

The dog may well be dead by now... the case is 11 years old.

Yes, I know its technically 20 years than life, but he is so hated by the cops and prison personnel that he will obviously do forty years minimum.

Quote: TheCesspit

The dog may well be dead by now... the case is 11 years old.

Actually I think Corrine Mitchell did report that the mutt died. This was a literary technique to describe the case. The mutt never had any way of knowing what he was responsible for and undoubtedly could not feel remorse. It was a literary technique to reduce a complicated case to a simple emotion and to emphasize the dna evidence by underplaying it.

Look at it. Four men left their dna in, on or near her corpse, but not one of them was ever even a suspect. The fifth male who did Not leave his dna near the scene at all and who was observed to be calm and neatly attired was considered to be the killer in a blood soaked murder scene.

Where my home office used to be the neighbor had two dogs who were often escaping from the yard and wandering around the neighborhood. One time they strayed farther than usual and were heading towards a major street (Fort Apache). I followed them trying to get them to go home but they were going too fast. Next they were wandering all over Fort Apache during a lull between clusters of cars on the northbound side.

Then a cluster came along, and this was during morning rush hour. I knew it wouldn't end well. One of the dogs, a yellow lab, was hit straight on at about 50 mph and went flying through the air. That car and the car in the next lane where the dog landed suddenly stopped and finally the cars in the third lane. To get the point, the other dog smelled the dog that died and I could tell it understood the gravity of what happened. He smelled the dead dog for about three seconds and then went straight home. Suddenly play time was over and the dog seemed to have a sense of remorse but maybe I'm transferring my own feelings onto the dog.

Ah... the ever literal Wizard. I guess my literary technique of focusing on some mutt's conscience to emphasize the facts of the crime didn't work on you. An Associated Press photo journalist scored high decades ago just showing two young dogs, obviously littermates, one dead at the side of the road, the other waiting patiently for him to get up. Things like that can be sad to observe whether in person or in a photo, but I was trying to call attention to the facts of the murder and the length of the sentence.

Quote: Fleastiff

... but I was trying to call attention to the facts of the murder and the length of the sentence.

THAT was the point if your original post?

Jeez. I read it and tried to answer the question posed in the thread title.

So now I'll answer your "real" question.

Yeah, I think the kid got a very him rap. Yeah, I'm surprised the 4guys weren't even suspects.

But the dog? Yeah, I feel sorry for him. But not because his actions caused his master so much trouble. And not because his actions caused him to be seperated from his master. But because he got seperated from his master at all.