It’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month – Do You Know Your Animal Cruelty Laws?
Not only is April National Pet First Aid Awareness Month, it also holds the honor of being Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. In 2015, a local news station reported that South Carolina ranked 45th in the nation for animal cruelty laws. Their article described the tough road on toughening up the Animal Cruelty Laws in our state and the obstacles they have had to maneuver through. It’s a fine line between protecting the animals that need the help, and cracking down on puppy mills while allowing commercial dog breeders to continue their breed’s legacy. The other trouble is consistency in enforcing the laws that are in place. Passing legislation is never a quick road, but at least people are talking about updates!
Related: 6 Ways to Give Pet First Aid Without an Emergency Kit
The Definition of Animal Cruelty, and Signs to Look For
The Human Society of South Carolina’s website FAQ page, breaks it down into 2 types: Neglect, and Intentional Cruelty.
Animal Cruelty defined (quoted from their website): Animal cruelty is any act of violence or neglect perpetrated against animals. Examples include overt animal abuse, dog and cock fighting, and animal neglect where the animal is denied basic necessities of care such as fresh water, food and/or shelter. Animals are covered by state animal cruelty laws. These can vary from state to state and county to county. The Humane Society works to educate people about the proper care of animals and how to prevent animal cruelty.
Animal cruelty is generally divided into the following two categories:
- Neglect: Neglect is the failure to provide an animal with the most basic requirements of food, water, shelter, shade and/or veterinary care. The owner may simply be ignorant to what care needs to be provided. Owners must correct the situation in these cases. Law enforcement can remove an animal if the neglect continues.
- Intentional Cruelty (quoted from their website): Intentional cruelty is often more shocking than neglect and is frequently an indicator of a serious human behavior problem. Intentional cruelty is when an individual purposely inflicts physical harm or injury on an animal. Animal investigators, with the help of concerned citizens, have arrested individuals who have deliberately maimed, tortured and/or killed animals. Many individuals get arrested. However, people who commit even the most heinous crimes against animals are often not prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Which can be frustrating, because someone who is violent towards animals may be violent towards family members or others.
Here are some signs of animal cruelty to be on the lookout for (quoted from the Humane Society’s FAQ page):
- The animal lacks access to food, water and shelter.
- An animal has matted or missing hair, thin in appearance, has apparent sores, etc.
- The animal has a collar embedded in their skin.
- An animal is filthy (i.e. fecal matter caked on feet, around the anus, etc.).
- The animal may have persistent and varying injuries.
- There may be a history of previous pets that have disappeared or died at a young age.
- The owner has a large number of animals that appear to be lacking basic care.
- The owner appears to lack concern about the animal’s health problems.
Please contact the proper authorities to report a neglected or abused animal:
Please refer to the Human Society’s Website for Reporting Animal Cruelty on the information they will need, and their FAQ’s.
For a full description of our South Carolina Animal Cruelty Laws:
- South Carolina Code of Laws Title 47 – Animals, Livestock and Poultry. This is a list of all the laws relating to pets, livestock, and poultry. Each link takes you to the corresponding law.
- Title 47 – Animals, Livestock and Poultry CHAPTER 3 Dogs and Other Domestic Pets. This is a direct link to Chapter 3 which defines the law as it pertains to dogs and domestic pets.
As dog people, we understandably jump to thinking about animal abuse as it pertains to dogs. What we have to remind ourselves is that animal cruelty applies to ALL animals. We still have some work to do (IMO) in this state when it comes to these laws. However, at least they are trying to make some improvements. Hopefully we will continue to see an improvement in our state laws, as well as a consistent way to enforce them.
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