State puts animal torture as felony on the books
Breaking news from Gregory Castle, Best Friends Founder and animal activist, “The Utah House just passed S.B. 297, Sen. Christiansen's version of the torture bill, by a vote of 62 to 6 (7 abstensions)!”
The Humane Society of Utah has rejoiced in the fact that if you torture an animal in the state, it’s a felony on the first offense!
Click here to see the bill in its entirety.
S.B. 297 covers only domestic dogs and cats but this is a marked improvement over the weaker penalties associated with a misdemeanor offense.
Best Friends Animal Society is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support to help strengthen the animal cruelty laws in Utah. There were many animal advocacy organizations that wanted desperately to see Utah out of the
top 5 states to be an animal abuser according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund! The time for our elected officials to realize that animals are important to their constituents is upon us; it’s thanks to every single person that signed a petition, wrote their Senator and/or Representative and helped spread the word to help make the change!
posted by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends Networkphoto by Clay Myers, Best Friends photographer