Maximum prison sentence for animal cruelty raised from six months to five years

- England -

Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, completed its final stage in the Houses of Parliament on April 28, 2021, received Royal Assent on April 29, 2021, and will allow tougher penalties for animal cruelty.

This means that the maximum prison sentence for animal cruelty will be raised from six months to five years from June 29, 2021.

The Private Members Bill was introduced by Chris Loder MP in February 2020, and with the full support of the Government has now passed into law.

Gov.UK reports that: “The new maximum penalty will enable courts to take a firmer approach to cases such as dog fighting, abuse of puppies and kittens, illegally cropping a dog’s ears and gross neglect of farm animals. As well as a prison sentence, offenders can also receive an unlimited fine.”

As stated in the release, “The more stringent sentences will be some of the toughest in Europe. The Act will help ensure courts are able to enforce extended penalties for those who cruelly mistreat any animal, sending a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated.”

It is a disgrace however that we have had to wait until 2021 to have this law, effectively sending a message that animal cruelty WAS tolerated prior to this.

People are angry and tired of reading every day that innocent animals get tortured, neglected, and killed!!!

Lawmakers, politicians, and judges need to get their hands dirty and join in when animal rescue organizations respond to rescue situations and see firsthand what happens and what the consequences are!!!

According to the release, “A public consultation in 2017 received over 9,000 responses and showed strong public support for proposals on tougher sentences. The measure is also widely supported by animal welfare groups including the RSPCA and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.”

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act, coupled with “Finn’s Law” which came into force on June 8, 2019, protects service animals such as police dogs and horses and prevents those who attack or injure service animals from claiming self-defense.

The law is named after Finn (pictured below), a K-9 who was stabbed whilst pursuing a suspect with his handler PC David Wardell.

Officer Finn sustained serious stab wounds to the chest and head, but only criminal damage charges could be brought against his attacker.

In regard to the new law, Chris Sherwood, RSPCA Chief Executive, said: “This law is a huge step forward for animal welfare in the UK and we’re delighted that justice will now be served for animals. Tougher sentences will act as a stronger deterrent to potential animal abusers and will help us in our aim to stamp out animal cruelty once and for all.”

While I praise and welcome the new law, I am afraid that not every animal abuser will be sentenced to five years because despicable judges are everywhere and we will hear about judges who will still hand down ridiculous sentences.

I will be ready for them too!

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BBC

More than 4,000 endangered sea turtles rescued in South Padre Island

- Texas, USA -

Thousands of endangered sea turtles were rescued thanks to dozens of volunteers who have braved the freezing temperatures to rescue them from a winter storm.

TexasMonthly reports that on Sunday, February 14, Henry Rodriguez, owner of Henry’s Charters on South Padre Island, headed to the channels between the Laguna Madre and Isla Blanca Park and began scooping up cold-stunned sea turtles.

Despite the cold and the strong winds, he and two other volunteers pulled more than one hundred turtles.

Over the following days, three hundred more reptiles were rescued from shallow water until a collaboration with Sea Turtle Inc., a nonprofit organization, made possible the rescue of more than 4,000 of these beautiful sea creatures.

Staff and volunteers came together and coordinated the operation.

While Mr. Rodriguez and other boat drivers were taking the turtles out of the water, volunteers on land were rescuing those who had washed ashore.

There were so many of them that Sea Turtle ran out of space to hold the turtles and South Padre Island Convention Center stepped in and offered shelter.

As if things were not complicated enough, the convention center and Sea Turtle lost power during the rescue.

Water temperature in the tanks dropped, and staff had to pull the turtles out and put them into “dry dock.” “

Turtles had to be placed on floors and bins causing them inevitable stress.

For instance, at the convention center, thousands of stunned turtles were corralled inside makeshift tarp-lined pens and kiddie pools arranged in the lobby and hallways.

Wendy Knight, executive director of Sea Turtle, described the scene as “a war zone.”

As reported by TexasMonthly, on Wednesday, February 17, a crew from nearby SpaceX came to drop off a generator and several technicians to get Sea Turtle up and running again but that did not speed things up.

In fact, more than 24 hours are needed before water heats up enough to return resident turtles to their tanks.

And, the situation was further complicated by the prolonged power outage which ruined ten heaters used to regulate water temperature.

Ms. Knight said: “It’s good when they wake up, but they’re going to need to poop and pee and move their flippers and lift their heads. It’s going to be a literal shit show.”

Ms. Knight also said that it’s too soon to say how many will survive.

Sadly, some of them had preexisting conditions that make them more vulnerable to the cold; others arrived with boat strike or other injuries and will have to be hospitalized.

She then added: “I shudder to think how many did not make it to us.”

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Dog euthanized by the Humane Society of Logan County sparks fury

- Illinois, USA -

As reported by Lincoln Courier, “the Humane Society of Logan County has released a statement after receiving harsh criticism from the public on Facebook after having to euthanize a five-and-a-half-year-old male dog named Titan.”

The organization wrote in the statement that “Titan was put to rest” on Tuesday, January 26, at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Part of the statement reads: “HSLC is a no-kill shelter, and we still are. To constitute a no-kill shelter, the shelter does not euthanize for time or space constraints. Humane euthanasia is used as a last resort in instances when an animal is deemed too ill or too dangerous for rehabilitation. This decision was not taken lightly or before going to extensive lengths to rehabilitate, transfer, and publicize Titan.”

For those who don’t know who Titan was, here is how HSLC briefly recounted his story in their statement:

“Titan arrived at HSLC in January 2018. He was adopted once, for a period of approximately four months, but returned due to behavioral issues and attempted attacks on the family cat. Since this initial adoption and return, Titan has not received any viable (no kids, pets, fenced yard) adoption applications in his time with HSLC. Recently, someone expressed interest, but did not meet the requirements and expressed concern after witnessing a recent attack.

Titan has a history of documented, and undocumented attacks on both humans and other animals. Titan has had more than the necessary incidents of aggression but most went undocumented by volunteers attempting to insulate Titan from this outcome. Many will say he just played rough or didn’t know his own strength in attempts to downplay. We also know that some of our volunteers were lucky enough to never see his aggressive side, and we are thankful that they knew the loving side all animals have. However, two recent attacks on volunteers that involved severe bites caused HSLC leadership to reach out to our insurance and legal provider.”

According to the organization’s statement, HSLC has reached out to many shelters even out of state in an attempt to transfer Titan, but as stated, “due to his history of aggression towards other animals and humans”, attempts to transfer the furbaby turned out to be unsuccessful.

One of the people who was outraged by the decision made by HSLC to euthanize Titan, is Ms. Fonda Robbins.

Ms. Robbins wrote in a Facebook post: “I have just received regrettable information that The Humane Society in Logan County euthanized Titan yesterday at Animal Control. I think you will all have to form your own opinions about this decision. Mine will be to publicize their poor handling of this voiceless dog and to not provide additional funding to this facility. I would further hope that people will understand that the Titan Team worked very hard to save this dog and there was another way out. The Board should be ashamed of themselves and in Titan s Memory we thank him for his life and trying to hang on to get a loving home. The Board made sure he would not survive to get that.”

The Humane Society of Logan County feels that there has been a lot of misinformation posted on social media regarding their decision to euthanize Titan.

Lincoln Courier reports that Lincoln acting Mayor Tracy Welch shared a Facebook post by his brother Ashley Welch, who volunteers at HSLC.

Part of the post, published by Lincoln Courier, just reiterates what HSLC stated about Titan being an aggressive dog.

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