Mississippi has one of the weakest animal cruelty laws in the country. In fact, the Animal Legal Defense Fund recently ranked the state as one of 2009’s “Five Best States to be an Animal Abuser.” Only three other states lack felony penalties for the worst crimes committed against animals. Local advocate group Mississippi Fighting Animal Cruelty Together (MS-FACT) has said that, in Mississippi, torturing a defenseless dog or cat often carries the same penalty as stealing a DVD.Sen. Billy Hewes wants to make Mississippi the 47th state with a felony animal cruelty law. With your help, he can.
Mississippi is not immune to heinous incidents of animal cruelty, as illustrated by the recent case in which a Natchez man tied a dog to a tree and set the dog on fire. Suffering from burns on more than 75 percent of its body, the dog was later euthanized. The man received a mere misdemeanor (a maximum six-month jail sentence and a maximum $1,000 fine).
The detrimental impact that Mississippi’s weak animal cruelty law has on animals is tremendous. The Link® between animal abuse and other forms of societal violence is nationally recognized in research studies. Threats or actions against animals are strong indicators that violence against humans may follow. Now is the time to change the law in Mississippi to protect everyone from harm.
Senate Bill 2623, introduced by Sen. Hewes, would make aggravated cruelty to cats and dogs a felony with a maximum five-year imprisonment and a maximum $10,000 fine. In addition, the court would be required to order the convicted offender to pay restitution to the owner of the animal(s) and to the shelter/releasing/law enforcement agencies directly involved in the case. The court could require 1) psychological evaluation of the offender and necessary treatment; 2) that the offender’s right to own any other animal is forfeited for a certain period of time; and 3) that animal control could make periodic unannounced visits to the offender’s home to inspect any animal that the court may have allowed to stay with the offender.
Please ask your district senator to support historic SB 2623.
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Source: American Humane: Protecting Children and Animals since 1877
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