Committee hears bill allowing stacked penalties for multiple animals in animal-cruelty offenses
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Summary
Senate Bill 152 would permit consecutive sentencing for offenses that harm multiple animals in a single incident (for example, multiple dogs in a dogfighting event), with an explicit exception to avoid capturing lawful hunting or fishing activities, sponsor Sen. West said.
Sen. West told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 9 that Senate Bill 152 would allow prosecutors and judges to impose consecutive penalties when multiple animals are harmed in a single criminal episode, rather than limiting charges to a single offense.
The senator described a prosecutorial concern: under current law, dogfighting cases involving multiple animals could result in only a single applicable penalty even though multiple animals were harmed. The bill would enable stacking of offenses so each animal harmed could form the basis for a separate offense and consecutive penalties when the court deems appropriate.
West said the bill includes an exception to ensure hunting, fishing or legitimate animal-retrieval activities (for example, a hunting dog retrieving a goose) are not unfairly captured; that exception was added as an amendment last year in response to questions on the senate floor.
The sponsor said the bill had no fiscal note and no opponents in the hearing and asked for the committee’s favorable report. The committee concluded the day’s hearings without a formal vote recorded on the bill.