When they go to Allen's trailer looking to question him, they find dozens of squirrels, either alive in horrible conditions or dead in the freezer. I don't know how animal cruelty laws were back in the 1970s, but couldn't they bring him in on that and work from there? I know absolutely nothing about the legal system, besides some constitutional law, so help fill me in on this.
shareI think the way it was presented was more of an infestation than anything else. If the squirrels had been laying around dead and butchered, then it would have been a different story.
shareEven though he had one in a cage? That wouldn't have been enough to prove he was keeping them?
shareDidn't you watch the movie? Some were discovered in the refrigerator. Presumably dead.
shareIn real life, they were chipmunks, not squirrels. Allen had got a permit to capture and study them.
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It's all like some bad movie.
That's crazy, I was thinking the caged animals were just added to the story for dramatic effect, since many studies show that serial killers begin with animal torture before moving to humans.
Back to the OP's question, animal cruelty laws were probably weak or nonexistent back in the 70s. Even to this day, 40 years later, most animal cruelty laws only protect companion animals (dogs & cats) and many states consider it only a misdemeanor. The dog sleeping at my feet was rescued from serious abuse (you don't want to know the details) and the guy they convicted only got a $200 fine. So I'm thinking arresting the Zodiac on animal cruelty charges would be barking up the wrong tree. Lame pun intended.