Stronger penalties for pet abuse

Iowa has been one of the worst states for protecting pets, but the Legislature is finally acting.

HF 737, which passed the Senate 44-3 on March 4, will crack down on anyone – in-cluding pet owners – who neglects, injures or kills a com-panion animal. It will also en-hance penalties for offenders who commit multiple animal mistreatment crimes. Certain abusers may have to undergo a psychological evaluation and get additional help, such as counseling.

This bill strictly addresses companion animals, and will have no bearing on livestock. It defines “animal mistreatment” in Iowa Code Chapter 717B (Injury to Animals Other than Livestock).

Animal mistreatment includes:

• Animal abuse – Intention-ally, knowingly or recklessly injuring or killing an animal.

• Animal neglect – Failing to provide an animal with ade-quate food and water, sanitary and ventilated shelter, and necessary grooming and veteri-nary care.

• Animal torture – Inten-tionally or knowingly inflicting severe and prolonged or re-peated physical pain that caus-es serious injury or death to an animal.

• Abandoning a cat or dog.

• Injuring a police dog.

It will be an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in prison, if an animal is seriously injured or killed due to mistreatment.

Last year, the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranked Iowa 49th in the nation for our ani-mal protection laws. HF 737 is a long-overdue step in the right direction.

Sen. Amanda Ragan (D-Mason City) serves Franklin, Butler and Cerro Gordo counties in Senate District 27. She can be reached at 515-281-3371 or 641-424-0874. Email her at aman-da.ragan@legis.iowa.gov.