On Sunday, May 31, multiple drivers on Interstate 65 near Lakeshore Drive in Homewood, Alabama called 911 after watching a driver throw five kittens from a moving vehicle into traffic. All five kittens were struck by passing vehicles and killed. Thomas Ronald Liccione, 21, of Birmingham, was stopped, detained, and charged with Aggravated Cruelty to Animals. His bond was set at $15,000.

The arrest is a start. But for five kittens killed in broad daylight on a public highway, witnessed by enough people to generate multiple 911 calls, the question now is whether Alabama's legal system will treat this case with the gravity it demands.

Aggravated animal cruelty in Alabama is a Class C felony, carrying a sentence of one to ten years. But felony charges in animal cruelty cases frequently result in plea agreements that reduce the charge, minimize the sentence, and leave convicted abusers free to own and harm animals again. Alabama has no requirement that convicted animal abusers undergo psychological evaluation. It has no statewide ban preventing them from owning animals in the future. Research has documented a clear and consistent link between deliberate cruelty to animals and future violence against people.

We are asking the Jefferson County District Attorney to pursue this case to the fullest extent of the law, reject any plea deal that reduces the charge below a felony, and seek a sentence that reflects the deliberate, public nature of this act. Five animals were killed in front of multiple witnesses. This should not be pled away.

We are also asking the Alabama Legislature to pass what we are calling the Five Kittens Act: legislation requiring mandatory minimum sentences for aggravated animal cruelty convictions, mandatory psychological evaluation for all convicted animal abusers, and a lifetime ban on animal ownership for anyone convicted of aggravated cruelty in the state. These protections already exist in other states. Alabama should not be without them.

The five kittens thrown onto I-65 did not survive. The least we can do is make sure their deaths lead to something that protects animals from the same fate.