LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – “Justice for Reba!” That was the demand of animal lovers after a bulldog was put in a plastic bin last summer with the lid taped shut before it was left near a dumpster behind a grocery store. Reba was rescued barely alive by a passerby but later died. Two people were arrested but many people say the penalties they face don’t fit the crime. State law and penalties for future similar cases could soon change.
State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are coming together to co-sponsor a bill. While they cannot change the penalties for those accused of killing Reba now face, they hope to protect other animals throughout the state in the future.
“What I’d like to see is an increase. Our lawmakers should consider everything,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson contended. Wolfson reported the stiffest penalty current animal cruelty law would allow for those accused in the death of Reba is four years in prison with parole eligibility after just a year and a half.
“A slight increase isn’t enough. Perhaps in the range of 1-10 years in prison,” Wolfson suggested.
Assembly Bill 381, also known as Reba’s Law, was introduced in the Assembly Monday. It aims to broaden the definition of animal cruelty “to include every act, omission or neglect whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused, allowed or permitted.” If the act causes the death of the animal or in certain other circumstances, what is now considered a misdemeanor would be a felony.
FOX5 sat down with the bill’s primary sponsor Assemblymember Melissa Hardy before the session on the need for harsher punishments.
“We need to strengthen them. You know, a lot of them are misdemeanors and then, you know, maybe by the fourth time that an individual commits a crime, now it’s a felony…in the meantime they’ve caused all this harm,” Hardy argued.
The bill would also enhance penalties for anyone convicted of harming a police animal making it a higher-level felony even if an animal isn’t killed such as was the case with Metro K9 officer Enzo.
Assembly Bill 381 would also allow law enforcement to seize animals on agricultural land if abuse is suspected and when any animal is seized in an abuse case, give shelters and rescue groups the ability to provide care more quickly.
The bill has bipartisan and bicameral support with five co-sponsors. Next, the bill moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee. A date for that hearing is now being set.
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