WASHINGTON—In courts around the country, more and more animal
cruelty cases are being brought to trial as public awareness
grows about crimes to animals and as states improve animal
cruelty laws. Neglect, one form of animal cruelty, is also
getting more attention from the law. The HSUS has found nearly
a three-fold increase in reported cases of animal neglect
prosecuted under state felony statutes.
Every state has laws that cover some form of animal cruelty.
Laws on neglect are defined differently state to state, but in
general, the legal definition of animal neglect is the failure
to provide food, water, shelter or medical care to an animal,
which causes unjustified pain, suffering or death.
"Animal neglect comes in many forms," said Ann Chynoweth,
Counsel to Investigative Services for The Humane Society of the
United States. "Abandonment, starvation, excessive chaining and
hoarding are some of the deprivations that fall under neglect.
The suffering caused by neglect is increasingly becoming
recognized as cruelty on par with directly inflicted
abuse."
Local animal care and control officers and other law
enforcement officials who investigate animal cruelty report
that more than 90 percent of the cases they respond to are
animal neglect in the form of starvation and abandonment.
Delaware Attorney General M. Jane Brady recognizes the
importance of addressing abuse and neglect as crimes. In 1999,
she formed Delaware's Task Force on the Relationship between
Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence. "Neglect of animals
is as significant as abuse," Brady said. "It costs animals
their health and their lives and should be treated seriously.
Delaware has recognized this and, through the work of my Task
Force, we have changed the laws in Delaware regarding animal
abuse and neglect."
As of May 1, there have been eight reported cases this year
of animal neglect in the U.S. that have been prosecuted as a
felony-level crime. In 2003, there were 23 reported cases of
neglect tried under felony laws as compared to seven in 2002.
Of the 23 cases last year, seven resulted in convictions.
"The fact that we are seeing more felony prosecutions of
intentional animal neglect shows an acknowledgement of the
seriousness of this insidious and widespread form of abuse,"
Chynoweth said. "Allowing an animal to endure a slow and
painful death by starvation is its own form of violence and we
agree it should be prosecuted as a felony level crime wherever
the law allows."
The 2004 neglect cases include:
- An Alton, Illinois woman was charged with felony animal
cruelty for leaving her two pit bulls outdoors to freeze to
death. The Telegraph, February 2004
- In New Hampshire, a woman was indicted on five counts of
felony animal cruelty for depriving her cattle of food, water
and medical care. Citizen Online, February 2004.
- Five former tenants of a house in New York were charged
with felony animal cruelty after they abandoned dogs, cats
and other animals. The animals who had died were left for
more than three weeks without food. Finger Lakes
Times, February 2004
- In California, Slick Gardner was charged with nine felony
counts for failing to provide for adopted mustangs who were
found to be ailing. Investigators raided the property twice
and removed hundreds of horses. The Lompoc Record,
January 2004
- A North Carolina woman was charged with four felony
counts of animal cruelty after sheriff's deputies found four
of her horses dead, apparently from starvation. Charlotte
Observer, January 2004
- A Missouri woman pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty
for purposefully starving dozens of cats and mistreating
dogs. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2004
- A husband and wife in California pleaded no-contest to
felony animal cruelty for failing to care for two of their
horses. A pathologist testified that one of the horses likely
starved to death. Los Angeles Daily News, March
2004.
- The owner of 56 horses who were found starving to death
in Colorado was convicted of felony animal cruelty and
neglect and sentenced to 90 days in jail and 18 months
probation. Rocky Mountain News, February 2004.
"Unfortunately, there is no shortage of neglect cases, but
what we are seeing is that law makers, law enforcement,
prosecutors and judges are getting tougher in addressing these
crimes against animals," Chynoweth said. Forty-one states and
the District of Columbia have felony provisions for certain
types of animal cruelty. Whether or not an animal neglect case
is prosecuted as a felony in those states is determined
case-by-case.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's
largest animal protection organization with more than eight
million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream
voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals
and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals
in research and farm animals and sustainable agriculture. The
HSUS protects all animals through legislation, litigation,
investigation, education, advocacy and fieldwork. The
non-profit organization, which is celebrating its 50th
anniversary in 2004, is based in Washington, DC and has 10
regional offices across the country. Visit The HSUS on the Web
at www.hsus.org.
