Target: Glenn Thompson, Chair of U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
Goal: Transfer cost of care for victims of animal cruelty to abusers.
Five reportedly malnourished and severely emaciated dogs were rescued from a residence in Florida. The suspects in the case face nearly a dozen counts of aggravated animal cruelty. The dogs are on the road to recovery because of strenuous care, but not all victims of alleged animal cruelty are so lucky.
In the aforementioned case, emergency treatment alone cost $15,000. Animal cruelty cases can notoriously take months or even years to work their way through the system, and in the interim someone must care for the animals. These costs can quickly add up, especially for longer cases. If smaller communities do not have the resources to finance such care, unfortunately cruelty cases may not even by fully pursued.
Legal remedies have emerged that put the burden of paying these bills where they belong: on the abusers. Cost of care laws shift the costs of treating abused or neglected rescued animals from taxpayers and regional agencies to the person who owns the animals and has been accused of abuse. Since animal caretakers (often times the abusers themselves) retains “ownership” under the law, they can be compelled to either surrender the animals (and make the pets adoptable), or they can post a bond that pays for treatment of the animal. Problematically, depending on the state, the law may cover only certain species, may require a conviction before restitution is sought, or may provide no financial remedy at all. And what about the many cruelty cases where the animal’s legal owner is not the guilty party?
Sign the petition below to support a federal cost of animal care law to close the loopholes that are allowing abusers of animals to escape paying the full legal price of their actions.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Representative Thompson,
Animal cruelty is an often under-prosecuted and underreported crime. These realities do not arise due to a lack of criminal activity but rather a lack of resources and financial support. Costs of treating and caring for an injured or sick animal can quickly accumulate, and too many regions of the country simply do not possess the means to provide this care. As a consequence, cases are dropped, deals are made, and abused animals are frequently returned into the very circumstances that endangered their lives.
Bond or forfeiture and cost of care laws (requiring some abusers to pay for the care of abused animals) have helped, but a solid and consistent framework for implementing these laws still does not exist. Exceptions, vague language, and technical loopholes leave many animals uncovered. And several states have failed to even put any form of such a law on the books, leaving the burden of paying for these crimes to non-profits or taxpayers.
Please craft and introduce a federal cost of care law that can serve as another invaluable tool against an insidious gateway crime.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Irina Novikova
