Florida Animal Cruelty Bill Heads to Governor's Desk
Posted April 29, 2013 08:40 am
This picture says it all. Obviously, this dog's owners
considered him no better than trash. Humane society
workers in Cumberland County, NJ rescued this
dog. His trashcan was packed with enough trash that
"Oscar" could barely see over the top. Sadly, Oscar had
to be euthanized due to a severe case of ringworm.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - People convicted of animal abuse in Florida will face more charges and likely tougher penalties if a new Animal Cruelty Bill is signed into law. Late Friday the state Senate voted unanimously to strengthen the current animal cruelty law, including its animal fighting provisions. The House had already passed the bill unanimously.
According to Kate MacFall, Florida state director for the Humane Society of the United States, strengthening laws against animal cruelty, particularly involving animal fighting, can help crack down on other criminal activity.
"It's a big problem," she declared. "It's incredibly important for the animals; they're just treated horribly and the suffering that goes on. But it's often embedded with other crimes."
Links:
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UNchain you dog
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ASPCA
Those include narcotics, violence, and gang activity.
The measure (HB 851) would allow law enforcement to
charge someone with one count for every animal abused.
It also reinstates a ban on the dyeing of fowl or
rabbits, as in the practice of artificially coloring
chicks and bunnies at Easter.
MacFall called the bill's passage a major victory for
animal welfare in Florida, but hopes this is just the
beginning. The Humane Society and law enforcement would
also like to see a law allowing arrests for possession
of animal-fighting paraphernalia.
"It's very difficult and dangerous for law enforcement
to catch them in the act of fighting animals," she
cautioned. "In fact, in south Florida, law enforcement,
they don't even dream of going and doing a bust without
the SWAT team."
Regarding the animal-dyeing, it was just last April that
Governor Rick Scott signed legislating lifting a dyeing
ban. That came at the request of dog owners who wanted
the ability to dye their show dogs. The new law, if
signed, won't apply to them.
Links and graphic added by the Observer/ Photo courtesy of UNchain Your Dog.org