I am an Equine Veterinary Technician that moved to Chambers County, Alabama in June of 2021 from a small town in Upstate New York. My resume holds credentials such as a degree in Animal Sciences and a New York Racing Association Exercise Riders License. 
When I moved here, I fell in love with this area, the culture, the small town charm, but I also immediately I noticed a giant culture shift in the welfare of livestock care, equine care, and even small animal care. Near family of mine, there was a run down house with a few  horses that were in horrible body condition, ribs and hip bones protruding, tied to trees resulting in legs being tangled, no supply of food or water. This infuriated me. I was informed by over a dozen people that law enforcement has been notified several times, but no repercussions have taken place, and that that’s “just how Alabama is.” After being told a couple of the horses died from starvation and one was left standing, I took it in my own hands and asked the owner if I could buy her. For three hundred dollars I took this incredibly emaciated horse into my own care, immediately brought her to Auburn University where she could be evaluated. The entire team of doctors at the JT Vaughn Large Animal Hospital were horrified over the condition she was in and informed me she would have probably perished within days from neglect. I put over three thousand dollars worth of veterinary care into her to nurse her back to health. She was placed on a beautiful farm to heal, be re-fed on a very strict diet, the UC Davis re-feeding protocol, and learned to be a horse again. Despite the horrific treatment she endured she was the absolute most loving, forgiving, and special creature I have ever met. She went from having no one who cared, to a fan group of hundreds of people who would come and visit her. I named her Ahvee, after my favorite racehorse I have ever worked with. 
Two months after rescuing Ahvee, she started showing signs of colic. I rushed her to the hospital where she became quickly unstable and passed away suddenly on her own. Necropsy reports show that her neglect contributed to her sudden death. 
It sickens me that animal cruelty is looked over in the state of Alabama, especially in Chambers county. Ahvee is just one small example of the horrible treatment animals suffer in this area. 
I am not an animal activist. I am someone in the veterinary profession that is sick of seeing animals, especially livestock and equine being neglected. Where I come from, people like this are brought to justice. This petition needs to bring attention to law makers that animal cruelty needs to be a felony, as it is in other states. If someone is starving their animals, they are proven at risk for abusing children and other individuals. This petition will bring help to not just the animals in harm, but the people that lack education and assistance.