Justice for Chance: A Case for Strengthening Animal Cruelty Penalties

Rebecca A. Magee

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Current animal cruelty laws, however, fail to protect this nation’s most vulnerable members. This article analyzes the animal cruelty statutory scheme pertaining to companion animals and discusses various deficiencies. The article then explores several reasons why society needs to increase penalties from both a retributive and deterrence perspective including: the link between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence, the danger neglecting animals creates to society, the concept that pet owners are crime victims, and the moral need to ensure that property based crimes like theft do not render higher penalties than violent crimes against animals. Furthermore, the article proposes amending the laws by making animal cruelty a strike under a state’s repeat offender act, ensuring sentences are commiserate with mens rea, prohibiting an offender from owning animals, and requiring offenders to undergo psychological counseling. Finally, the article discusses obstacles that inhibit effectively sentencing offenders including prosecutorial and judicial apathy.