Arizona task force concerned about escalating cases of Animal cruelty seeks to revamp the laws
Phoenix, AZ – A Phoenix task force has recently begun a new venture – to work on a legislative proposal aimed at closing loopholes prevalent particularly in cases of cruel neglect and abandonment of animals. According to reports, the shortcomings in state animal-cruelty laws have enabled some suspects to avoid prosecution.
Their aim is to focus on preventing animal cruelty and to generate improvement in a system of rules which are outdated. The current laws are vague, the police said. The task force said because of some vague language in Arizona laws that set the standards for what constitutes animal neglect, cruelty and abandonment, prosecutors cannot pursue some cases.
Phoenix City Council members, Michael Nowakowski and Thelda Williams, established the 11-member group this year after a tipster found nine dog carcasses in a vacant south Phoenix lot. Two men, Nowakowski and Williams co-chair the task force, and nearly all the other members represent the Phoenix Police Department, city Prosecutor’s Office or animal-welfare organizations.
Loopholes in the Arizona law
According to authorities, the States and the federal government who are responsible for tracking animal-cruelty crimes or convictions, do not do so diligently rendering it impossible to measure the incidence of animal-cruelty crimes every year. The state’s primary animal-cruelty statute focuses on general acts of cruelty, neglect and abandonment. It also includes intentional acts that hurt or kill an animal.
Last year, Phoenix police investigated 298 complaints of animal cruelty and abandonment. The major chunk of these cases, 203 cases to be exact, involved abandoned animals, and the police were unable to find the owners.
According to reports, the Arizona police force dismissed 37 cases after finding no crime. The Task-force members believe some of those dismissed cases might have led to convictions if the state had clearer language in its animal-cruelty laws. However, they arrested suspects in 38 cases, and city prosecutors took 17 of them to court.
Under part of the statute surrounding animal rights, animal neglect and abandonment, including a failure to seek treatment for sick and injured animals, are Class 3 misdemeanors. City prosecutors handle the misdemeanor cases in municipal court, while the County attorneys prosecute these cases in Superior Court.
Convicted offenders face a maximum sentence of 30 days’ imprisonment and up to $500 in fines unless the state finds aggravating circumstances – such as repeated offenses – that would make the penalties harsher, and allow for greater jail sentences, fines, and legal hassles. The other portion of the animal-cruelty law focuses on intentional cruel mistreatment that injures or kills the animal. In those cases, animal cruelty is prosecuted as a Class 6 felony, and convicted offenders face a sentence of up to two years in prison and up to $150,000 in fines.
Altering the law
One man responsible for attempting to bring about an improvement in the system, by making the statute less ambiguous and more effective is Rep. Kate Brophy McGee, R-Phoenix. She is the leading person to take the initiative in bringing clarity and drive group efforts to make the law more comprehensive.
She said the changes should also strengthen city and county attorneys’ ability to prosecute. “Basically, we are combing different statutes in different states for definitions that would allow for appropriate (police and rescuer) intervention,” McGee said.
The group hopes to introduce legislation after the session begins again in January.
In a statement, she said that the group wants to define what constitutes cruel confinement, abandonment, neglect and shelter for an animal; require handlers and owners give their animals potable water as a standard of care; include “torture” as a felony crime in the animal-cruelty statute; and outlaw “horse diving” (having a horse dive into a pool from at least 40 feet above the water).
Lastly, the group also wants to consider enhancing current penalties or setting new minimum sentencing requirements and fines.
According to the Phoenix police department, they have never encountered a case of horse diving. However, Williams and horse advocates are concerned about potential incidents.
According to reports, the Arizona Humane Society investigator and task-force member, Christopher West, comes across ambiguities in the law on a daily basis.
In a statement, the task force member, West said the state’s hazy legal language hinders authorities’ ability to help and rescue animals from dangerous situations – such as dogs left with unsafe water and animals left outside in 100-plus-degree heat.
For example, the law requires owners to provide adequate shelter, “but right now there is no definition for ‘shelter,’ ” West said. “What is shelter – a shack, protection from the elements?”
“An animal should have the ability to stand up, lie down, stretch his legs in a comfortable manner,” West said.
In another press release, te Deputy City Prosecutor John Tutelman said some of the cruelest cases are tied to another crime: domestic violence. The task force may consider harsher penalties in cases where a violent and vengeful partner abuses the person’s pet or kills it.
“Those are probably the (cases) that offend prosecutors the most,” Tutelman said. “What we are talking about here are people who have a pet that really is a part of their family — an innocent part of their family — and to have them subject to abuse the same way someone in a bad relationship is subject to abuse — it’s just tragic for the person who is being abused and for the animal.”.
“We’re dealing with everyone from people who don’t know and are ignorant (in care) — and we want to educate them — to people who are intentionally harming animals, people who deserve to be punished for that kind of conduct,” he said.
Tutelman said the task force has “taken on a big job to improve laws to protect animals and the community.”
