Furry Tails: Rallying For Angel's Law
A few weeks ago, I wrote about one of the worst forms of animal cruelty – dog fighting.
It's a beyond sad world where dogs are beaten and tortured, forced to fight, and worst of all, killed. But there is hope for these animals. Kindness in the form of caring people. Those who fight every day to put a stop to this kind and other forms of brutality against animals.
Those people range from the average animal lover to animal activists to our lawmakers.
One local lawmaker trying to make a difference when it comes to stopping animal cruelty is Rep. Dom Costa. He's hosting a Rally Against Animal Cruelty at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society on Oct. 17.
Specifically, Rep. Costa and the animal activists who support him are working to build support for Pennsylvania's Angel's Law. This bill would increase the penalties for those in the state who are caught abusing an animal.
The Angel's Law legislation would "raise the grading for all summary offenses under Section 5511 (Cruelty to Animals) to a misdemeanor of the third degree."
In a 2014 memo to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Rep. Costa said of re-introducing the bill:
"By increasing summary offenses to misdemeanor offenses and more strongly punishing those individuals who are guilty of repeated animal cruelty offenses, I believe we can better ensure that all offenders are dealt with in our criminal justice system, thereby reducing the acts of violence committed against both animals and humans in our Commonwealth. We must do our part and put an end to animal cruelty, and I believe that starts with increasing penalties and maintaining accurate records of these heinous offenses."
Click here for more information and to read House Bill No. 113.
The Rally Against Animal Cruelty will be held at 10 a.m. on Oct. 17 at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society on Western Avenue in Pittsburgh.
If you would like to help, you can also contact your local legislator and tell them you'd like to see the Angel's Law bill advance. Find your legislator by clicking here.
Also, if you need to report any kind of animal cruelty, the Western Pa. Humane Society has their own humane investigations department and calls to it are kept confidential. This is there number: 412-321-4265 ext. 216.
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Stay tuned animal lovers for more Furry Tails! You can follow me on Twitter at @HeatherLang24
