Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, Animal Welfare Advocates Urge Overhaul of Animal Cruelty Laws

VAN DREW, ANIMAL WELFARE ADVOCATES URGE OVERHAUL OF ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS

Measure Would Update, Consolidate Century-Old Animal Protections

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) today teamed with state law enforcement officials, animal welfare advocates, and a rescue-dog owner to urge support for legislation that would overhaul the state's animal cruelty laws for the first time in over 125 years.

The legislation (A-2649) -- entitled "Angel's Law," in memory of a South Jersey dog that died after being starved and beaten by its owner - would make inhumane acts against animals specific criminal offenses and significantly increase criminal and civil penalties for violations.

"New Jersey's animal cruelty law is filled with shortcomings that can make it difficult for authorities to hold animal abusers accountable,"Van Drew (D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic) said at a State House press conference.  "Atrocities like dog fighting, abandonment, and improper euthanization need to be treated like other felonies - with harsh penalties."

Speaking at a State House press conference, Van Drew said he worked with the animal advocacy community for more than two years to craft and refine the bill, basing many of its provisions on the findings of a 2004 report issued by the Animal Welfare Task Force - a panel of animal experts that examined the issue for more than a year.  Van Drew said the bill also draws on recommendations made by the state Commission of Investigation, which has conducted several critical probes into animal cruelty, animal control and animal shelters in recent years.

Van Drew said current animal cruelty law addresses situations that no longer are relevant today, utilizing outdated terminology that can hamper enforcement by requiring strained interpretations to address current situations.

"New Jersey is experiencing more and more grotesque and depraved acts of animal cruelty and the state's laws failing to keep pace with this alarming trend," said Van Drew.  "Regrettably, too many offenders are receiving token fines or no fines at all because their misdeeds are being adjudicated as civil violations instead of crimes."

• Van Drew's updated bill would establish 12 types of offenses:
  Abuse of an animal;
• Aggravated animal abuse;
• Animal abandonment at an animal care facility;
• Abandonment of an animal;
• Animal cruelty in the presence of a child age 16 or younger;
• Animal neglect including cruel restraint;
• Aggravated animal neglect;
• Animal hoarding;
• Improper euthanization;
• Cruel commercial exploitation of an animal;
• Animal fighting; and
• The crime of patterns of abuse.

The Van Drew proposal also would establish the crimes of animal incapacitation and use of an animal in a drug distribution scheme, providing for adjudication of these crimes as aggravated animal abuses.

The bill would consider animal cruelty crimes committed in the presence of child to be especially heinous, allowing for even stiffer penalties.  It also would create new reporting requirement for suspected cases of animal cruelty and reinforce the 7-day rule for holding stray animals at pounds and shelters.

Under the bill, penalties would be dramatically strengthened with the most serious crimes drawing first-degree penalties of up to 20 years in jail and $200,000 in fines.  First-degree offenders would be subject to mandatory mental health counseling, community service and civil penalties, possible forfeiture of all animals owned by that individual and prohibition from ever owning an animal again.

"Whether it is animal neglect or the outright unmitigated abusing or torturing of an animal, these offenses will command serious attention by authorities and more serious penalties," said Van Drew.

The Assemblyman said the legislation is long overdue; New Jersey's current antiquated statutes which were first established in 1880.  He credited a litany of organizations and individuals who helped to work out the measure, including the Associated Humane Societies, the NJSPCA's Law Enforcement Division and the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"New Jersey's laws were written to protect animals during the 19th century when they had a dominant role in commerce," said Van Drew.  "Unfortunately, today we are facing the abuse of animals in "blood sports" like dog fighting and cockfighting.  Although these activities are illegal they continue to grow in popularity with underground canine fight clubs and annual tournaments appearing in communities across New Jersey."

According to the Humane Society of the United State (HSUS), the profiles of serial killers and high school shooters are rife with accounts of how these sociopaths got their first taste of violence torturing the family pet. Criminologists who have studied troubled youth say that a youth that gets away with harming an animal experiences an intoxicating sense of power that can lead to the actions being repeated on human victims.  In contrast, children who act humanely to animals exhibit core behaviors that generally carry over to relationships with people.

According to the HSUS, dogs used in these fights are usually chained up, starved, and beaten to get them ready for the life and death match.  The dogs inflict tremendous damage on each other often using their powerful jaws to crush bones, strip away tendons, and tear gaping holes into their opponent's flesh.

"Blood sports with animals are often associated with drugs, illegal weapons and money laundering," said Van Drew.  "We must support law enforcement by giving them the tools they need to stop these individuals who participate in the sordid underworld of dog fighting."

In the United States, dog fighting is a felony in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It's a crime all 50. Cockfighting also has been outlawed across the country, except in U.S. territories like the Virgin Islands.

Van Drew said the bill is now in a position to be considered by the full Assembly and be passed into law.

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