Sen. Kennedy Announces Final Passage of Bill to Prevent Animal Abuse

From the Connecticut General Assembly:

Violence against animals is a horrendous crime which indicates that a perpetrator is likely to commit multiple violent crimes, but far too often goes unpunished. Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-Branford) led unanimous, bipartisan passage of a bill that will establish increased penalties for animal cruelty so that individuals committing these acts will be held responsible for their actions.

“Animal cruelty is one of our society’s most despicable crimes, and perpetrators should be appropriately punished,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Far too many people guilty of animal abuse have their charges dismissed. By passing this legislation, we will ensure that law enforcement is able to hold these individuals accountable and intervene before the commit future violence against animals and people. I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law, closing the loophole that allowed crimes against animals to go unpunished.”

House Bill 5147 increases the maximum penalty for maliciously and intentionally maiming, mutilating, torturing, wounding or killing an animal. A first offense of violence against an animal is currently a class D felony. This bill makes any subsequent offense a class C felony. Second and subsequent offenses will no longer be eligible for the Accelerated Rehabilitation Program, which is intended for crimes not of a serious nature and allows the charge to be dismissed and no record kept of the crime. House Bill 5147 is a reintroduced version of Senate Bill 361, which Sen. Kennedy introduced in 2015. That bill passed unanimously in the senate but was not called in the house before the end of the legislative session.

The Humane Society and other animal advocacy organizations strongly endorsed this bill as an important mechanism to protect the health of animals in Connecticut. From 2002 to 2012, there were 3,699 animal cruelty prosecutions. More than half of these were withdrawn, and a third of them were dismissed. Two-thirds of the people convicted of animal cruelty receive accelerated rehabilitation.

Violence against animals is a terrible crime, which also has a direct link to violence against people. Multiple studies have made it very clear that people who commit acts of violence against animals are very likely to go on to harm other people. A study conducted by the Chicago Police department between 2001 and 2004 found that of those arrested for animal crimes, 65 percent had been arrested for assaulting another person. Another study questioned 36 people convicted of multiple murders. Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to committing acts of animal torture as adolescents. Strengthening the penalties for animal cruelty ensures that law enforcement is able to intervene early and prevent future violence against animals and people.

According to the FBI, 68 percent of abused women reported that their abuser had also committed violent acts against their pets. The FBI recently launched a national database on crimes of animal cruelty, counting it among felony crimes like arson, burglary, assault and homicide in the FBI’s criminal database.

Now that House Bill 5147 has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, it will move to desk of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and awaits his signature.