they killed a neighbor's pet, but were they punished by the law? that's insane. and it also should significantly lower the threshold to having them in trouble as assholes again.
This kind of thing isn't all that uncommon. Police don't do much about crime, really (no, not even in middle-class white suburbia), as far as investigating or trying to punish anything. If you tried to bring the issue to them, you'd likely end up in a nasty he-said-she-said thing with your neighbor, possibly inviting further attacks from them, or might even end up (one way or another) being the ones receiving fines or other punishment (say, if they started recording your every move so they can find something to take to the cops, HOA, et c).
Even if you caught it clearly on camera and can get the cops to give a shit, what's going to happen is probably a fine or probation, and now your demonstrably-shitty neighbors have a serious grudge against you. You've "won, but also lost so badly that you may end up having to move. So your best likely outcome, after much effort and possibly some expense, is a very Pyrrhic victory.
It's pretty typical for cops not to bother to pursue animal cruelty charges, especially if it's "just" a neighbor's pet. Then if there's any potential "defense", like the pet entering their property, it's basically guaranteed it won't be pursued unless the victim has cop connections.
They could be sued civilly, but the damages you'd win are basically the cost of a replacement pet, so super insulting.
