Recently in Utica, NY, several dogs and puppies were discovered dead and dying in an apartment. The dogs and puppies had been starved and de-hydrated because the owner was being held in jail. The dogs had even resorted to trying to eat shoes to stay alive. Yet, the most severe charge the man received was for animal abuse, a misdemeanor.
There are, in New York, frequent cases every year of severe incidents of animal abuse that involve terrible physical abuse, often causing permanent disabilities or death. Some cases involve several pets at a time. And yet the most severe penalties are fines, loss of pet ownership and in the most egregious instances perhaps short jail sentences. We, the undersigned, do not believe current law provides any deterrence against these horrible crimes. It is time to make these severe instances of animal abuse felonies with appropriate sentencing options for law enforcement and the judicial system to work with. Please help save animals by ending torture and death at the hands of animal abusers. Pass Legislation to strengthen New York’s animal cruelty laws. Make it a felony to cause an animal severe harm or death!

Lynn Beken & Nicole Ives

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened"
Anatole France 1844-1924