Two years ago, a constituent asked me to serve on a City
of Phoenix Task Force dealing with animal cruelty issues. She told me about
terrible abuses going on in my district, where intervention was
difficult-to-impossible, conviction unlikely, and penalties minimal. I
immediately agreed. The Task Force, chaired by Councilwoman Thelda Williams and
Councilman Michael Nowakowski, met for many months. My role on the Task Force
was to develop legislation honing in on definitions of animal cruelty. Examples
include: What does "food, water and shelter" mean? What is "prolonged
suffering?" Those definitions were the key to intervention, successful
prosecution, and conviction in domestic animal abuse cases. Without them, the
status quo would continue, along with epidemic abuse of domestic pets. Tougher
penalties were also on the table. It made no sense for an individual to
be convicted of animal abuse, only to have them get off with a slap
on the wrist and no consequences for continuing abuses.
I assembled a group of stakeholders and quickly learned
how difficult these definitions were to quantify. Stakeholders included
representatives from animal welfare organizations, agriculture, law enforcement,
prosecutors, and the courts. Most importantly, our work group included front
line responders - those who went out to investigate complaints of abuse and
neglect. We worked hard, but the legislation updating these critically important
definitions failed last session. The reason it failed is because we could not
adapt it to the legal, humane commercial activities of livestock and farm animal
growers, including Arizona ranchers and farmers, livestock shows and fairs, and
our 4H students. I understood that humane treatment and handling of animals
raised for commercial purposes is different than humane treatment of pets. At
the same time, I was haunted by the realization that keeping the status quo meant that the domestic pet
abuse and hoarding occurring in my district would continue
unabated.
I was honored to sign on to HB2587 as a sponsor. There
are two parts to the bill. First, HB2587 contains all of the provisions we
developed in the failed legislation from the prior session, plus a definition of
hoarding. The bill includes increased penalties for animal neglect and abuse.
The bottom line is that if this bill passes, animal welfare officers on the
front line will be able to intervene when neglect and abuse is evident.
Prosecutors can convict, and penalties are tougher, particularly on repeat
offenders. Courts can order psychological evaluations in proven cases of serial
abuse and hoarding.
Additionally, HB2587 establishes a separate track for
commercial livestock regulation and animal abuse. This part of the bill needs
more work because the language is not clear, and stakeholder meetings are
underway to clarify concerns. My intent is to establish clear, enforceable
animal cruelty provisions appropriate for commercial activities. My intent is
that the Department of Agriculture work in cooperation with local law
enforcement to investigate allegations of animal abuse against livestock owners
and producers and provide needed expertise. The department and its trained peace
officers, knowledgeable in animal husbandry practices, will be an important
resource to local law enforcement, a role the department already fulfills in the
investigation and prosecution of horse abuse cases. Finally, HB2587 must include
tough penalties for those convicted of abuse. Successful passage of this bill
will put a stop to those "bad actors" that are not treating their animals
humanely.
HB2587 is a serious piece of policy work, but it is
still a work in progress. I support this bill and am working to iron out the
problematic language in order to make the intent crystal clear. We are not there
yet, but I am working to get us there. We have the opportunity to make it safer
and more humane for all of our Arizona animals, including domestic pets and
livestock. I hope you will support me in these efforts!
