McDaniel gives plan to toughen animal law
Posted on Friday, October 3, 2008
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Thursday that he’s continuing to work with legislators, animal welfare activists and farm groups on an animal cruelty bill for next year’s legislative session and that the bill would make cockfighting a felony.
At a news conference with McDaniel, a representative from the Humane Society of the United States also announced that the organization is offering a $ 5, 000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in dog fighting or cockfighting.
Animal welfare groups have been trying for years to create a felony offense for animal cruelty in Arkansas. In the 2007 legislative session, a bill sponsored by state Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, failed, as did a competing bill, backed by the Arkansas Farm Bureau, that would have made animal cruelty a felony on the second offense.
McDaniel said he has been working with Madison, the Farm Bureau and other groups to draft a bill that would create an offense of “aggravated animal cruelty” that would apply to extreme cases involving dogs, cats and horses. The bill also would increase the penalties for misdemeanor animal cruelty, which would continue to apply to less severe cases. That crime would also become a felony on the fourth offense. McDaniel said he also would make cockfighting a felony.
“We are meeting and speaking over the phone and in person with everyone we can think of who has had an interest in this legislation in the past, whether they’ve supported it or opposed it,” McDaniel said. “I’m trying very diligently to bring all sides together on something that can be agreed upon as good, sound policy, and we are very, very close.”
According to the Humane Society, Arkansas is one of six states without a felony provision in its animal cruelty law. Under Arkansas Code 5-62-101, the crime is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $ 1, 000.
Dog fighting is a felony punishable by up to six years in prison or a fine of up to $ 10, 000, but the state doesn’t have a law that specifically addresses cockfighting.
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