For those unfamiliar, Winston is a 9-year-old Yorkshire
Terrier who was blind, badly matted and abandoned by his owner, who placed the
dog in a cooler bag, weighed it down with a heavy book and discarded it behind
a power plant in Rivesville, W.Va. A good Samaritan stumbled upon the bag while
walking his own dog, rescued Winston and took him to a no-kill shelter. When
the community learned about Winston’s story through the news media, dozens of
people donated thousands of dollars so the dog could have cataract surgery that
restored much of his vision, and he has since been adopted by a loving family
that treats him the way he deserves to be treated.
So why wouldn’t everybody support a bill called Winston’s
Law? Please allow me to explain.
First off, do not assume for one minute that I don’t support
punishment for people who abuse animals. I do. I’d like to get 15 minutes alone
with some of them in a locked room while wielding an aluminum baseball bat. I also
think the people who proposed and support “Winston’s Law” are good people who
want to do the right thing for Winston and all of the other animals who have
been or may be mistreated in West Virginia, and I applaud them for their efforts.
However, I was fortunate enough to hold Winston in my arms after
he was rescued—when he was still blind and frightened of many people—and he truly
touched my heart. My wife and I donated money to help with his surgery and we
have followed his story ever since. If a statute to protect animals is going to
be called “Winston’s Law,” I believe he deserves better than the one that
presently bears his name.
Senate Bill 124 as written—and recently revised—clearly states
that in order for animal abuse to be considered a felony in West Virginia, the
animal must suffer “bodily injury” or be killed, or the perpetrator must be
guilty of a second offense. Here is the exact language:
“A BILL to amend and
reenact §61-8-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
creating a felony offense for cruelty to an animal that causes bodily injury
to or death of the animal; and creating a felony offense for second and
subsequent convictions of cruelty to animals.”
It also clearly states that withholding food and water from
an animal or abandoning an animal to die—which is what happened to Winston—are misdemeanors:
“It is unlawful for
any person to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly…withhold proper
sustenance, including food or water (or) abandon an animal to die. Any person
in violation…of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
I wasn’t there when Winston was found but I don't remember reading that he
was “injured,” per se, when he was placed inside the bag, and he obviously
didn’t die, and there has been no evidence to suggest that his owner was a
repeat offender. Winston was, however, “abandoned and left to die,” which the law
clearly states is a misdemeanor. If I was the defense attorney for Winston’s
abuser, I would argue that under the law as written, he cannot be found guilty
of a felony, and I believe I would easily win in court.
This is not what Winston’s supporters were promised when we
were told that legislation was pending to strengthen the law. In fact, if this
new bill had been in place the day Winston was discarded, it still would not have
made what happened to him a felony, nor is it strong enough to deter other
abusers from doing the same thing to another helpless pet one time, get caught,
pay a small fine for first offense and carry on with their lives.
I hope I’m wrong about all of this and maybe I'm missing something, but I don’t believe I am. I have read this bill a half-dozen times and it keeps coming out the same way. I was a journalist for 13 years. I once covered the West Virginia Legislature and have read dozens of pieces of
proposed legislation, and I have also covered dozens of courtroom trials, so I’m not
just some guy off the street who loves animals. I know a little bit about
legislation and the law.
In my opinion, West Virginia needs an animal abuse statute
that addresses three key issues:
(1) Abandonment which is likely to result in death. For
example, placing a dog in a bag or a box and tossing it over a hill or out of a
car window or onto the ground behind a power plant—as in Winston’s case—needs
to be a felony on first offense and every subsequent offense.
(2) Neglect.
For example, chaining up an animal up outdoors in sub-zero weather and allowing
it to freeze to death needs to be a felony on first offense and every
subsequent offense.
(3) Entrapment.
Locking an animal inside a car in freezing cold or sweltering heat which is likely to result in its death needs to be a felony on first offense and every subsequent
offense. This law also needs to allow good Samaritans who are not first
responders to rescue an animal from such circumstances without fear of arrest
for trespassing or vandalism or any other crime.
People who love their pets and consider them to be family
members see little difference between animal abuse and the abuse of a small
child. Imagine placing a blind human baby inside a cooler bag, weighing it down
with a heavy book and leaving it in an isolated location to die of exposure or
starvation. Would that be a felony in your eyes?
I support those animal rights activists who are pushing for
legislative change, because without strong animal cruelty laws, situations like
Winston’s can happen any time without repercussions or proper punishment for
the abusers. I encourage everyone who cares about animals to contact their legislators
in every state and tell them to support a comprehensive animal abuse statute
that addresses the three issues I mentioned above.
That way we can put in place
the strongest possible laws to protect our animals and deter those people who
would otherwise abuse them, usually without so much as a second thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment