Mississippi's Weak Animal Cruelty Laws

caged bird

Animal advocates say Mississippi's animal cruelty laws amount to no more than a slap on the wrist. MPB's Patty Davis reports.

Earlier this month, the DeSoto County Sheriff's dept shut down a suspected cockfighting operation in Olive Branch, seizing over 200 birds. But if prosecuted, the suspected organizers face only misdemeanor charges. Representative Cecil Brown has introduced a bill in the Agriculture Committee that would make cockfighting in Mississippi a felony, punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to three years imprisonment.

"The police are overworked and underpaid and they don't have enough staff to do everything that needs to be done. So the extend that you can raise a bill ability of a crime like this and make it a felony, it's gonna get more attention".

Brown says the proposed legislation would also place stiff penalties on spectators of the bloody sport. Clinic Director for the Humane Society of South Mississippi is David Waltman. The former law enforcement officer says It's not just organized cruelty that needs to be addressed.

"The case of the child in the back yard abusing an animal or a dog owner who refuses to feed it and water it. We see these every day".

Waltman supports a law that would also include restitution and counseling, especially for the young offender.

"We know that children who are abusive to animals, will grow up to be felons. We know that. The research is there".

In Mississippi today, stealing an animal is a felony, but torturing one is a misdemeanor, punishable by just a $100 fine and up to 100 days in jail. For MPB News, I'm Patty Davis.