Make Aggravated Animal Cruelty a Felony

On August 21, 2002, 17-year old Russell Watson, savagely beat a 1-year old pitbull, Rahkim, with a baseball bat. The beating was recorded by a security camera in a laundromat in which the puppy went into seeking refuge from Watson.

The video shows the pup entering the site limping and bloodied from Watson attacking him and hiding behind a row of washing machines. Watson can then be seen walking in dangling a baseball bat. The next thing the tape shows is sickening. Watson finds the pup, lines up the bat, and delivers several crushing blows to Rahkim’s head and rendering him unconscious. Watson then drags Rahkim out of the laundromat by his legs and abandons him a block away, leaving Rahkim to die.

Rahkim sustained severe injuries and on August 22, 2002, Rahkim’s owners/family had him euthanized. The puppy belonged to 10-year old Alexis Broadway who lives only a few blocks from where the attack took place. See Photo of Man Attacking Dog Released and Arrest Made; Beaten Dog Dies below.

Under Pennsylvania law, Watson will only be charged with a 2nd Degree Misdemeanor which sentencing is at least $1,000 and/or 2 years imprisonment. Pennsylvania is on of 21 states that do not recognize Aggravated Animal Cruelty as a felony. See State Legislature on Animal Cruelty below.

I understand that these 21 states may not recognize animal life to be as valuable as human life, hence, the misdemeanor statutes. However, tests show that violence towards animals is often linked to violence towards humans including family violence, school shootings, and serial killings. See Cruelty to Animals and Family Violence and Animal Cruelty: warning sign for other violence.

Unfortunately, animals can not speak up for themselves. The animals are counting on you to volunteer. Please sign this petition to ensure that people that commit such acts of extreme animal cruelty will be charged as felons and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The battle to make America a humane country is just beginning. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN IF YOU ARE UNDER 18.

*Photos in article will not be visible due to restrictions of this site.

This Petition requests that the laws of Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming are amended as follows:

Definition of animal: a vertebrate living creature other than a human being.

Statute Summary:
Animal Cruelty - with criminal negligence fails to care for an animal and causes its death or severe pain; deprives of necessary sustenance (fails to provide proper food, drink or shelter), carries or confines in a cruel or reckless manner; abandons any animal; confines (keeps and animal in an enclosure without exercise or wholesome change of air; cages an animal for public display unless the cage is solid material on three sides of the horizontal dimension of the cage and is the four times the length of the caged animal); allows sick or disabled animal to lie in a public place more than three hours after notice; interferes with a guide dog; or harasses an animal.

· Class A Misdemeanor
· Fine up to $5,000
· Imprisonment up to 18 months

Forfeiture/seizure: both
Other Sentencing Provisions: cost of care; education; possible no future ownership.

Exemptions: veterinary care
Aggravated Animal Cruelty - animal fighting; knowingly inflict sever physical pain or suffering; (unnecessarily or cruelly beats, maims, wounds or injures) or prolonged suffering; molests; needlessly mutilates or kills; knowingly administers poisonous or noxious drug; or knowingly or with criminal negligence overdrives, overloads, overworks, tortures, or torments an animal.
· 3rd Degree Felony
· $15,000 Fine
· 7 years Imprisonment.
Forfeiture/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: cost of care, anger management, counseling, and no future ownership.
Exemptions: protection of life; humane euthanization of animal which has endured or will endure prolonged suffering.


Photo of Man Attacking Dog Released
MANTUA-August 21, 2002 — Philadelphia police hope someone can identify a man captured on video tape. He severely beat a dog with a baseball bat in Philadelphia's Mantua section.
A one-year-old pit bull named Rakim is clinging to life at SPCA headquarters with serious injuries following a vicious attack at the hands of a bat-wielding man.
Here is a surveillance photo of the man police say beat the dog senseless for no apparent reason other than he was walking down the street after getting loose.
The pit bull was in such poor shape, he didn't even have the energy to move when an officer tried to untie him from the wall.
Sgt. Roland Lee/Philadelphia Police: "He was lying there, had a broken jaw, multiple injuries and lacerations. He was taken to the SPCA. He was in very bad shape."
This is a picture (above right)of the alleged attacker police are looking for, armed with the baseball bat, as captured by a surveillance camera inside a laundromat at 35th & Spring Garden Streets. Steven Ngyen and his boss, Mr. Lee, say the dog was already bleeding when he ran inside the laundromat to escape his attacker.
Steven Ngyen/witness: "He beat like this and also me and Mr. Lee told him, 'Don't do it, don't do it.' But still he kept doing it."
Ngyen says as far as he could tell, the dog didn't attack anyone. He just happened to be walking down the street when he encountered his attacker. The dog is the pet of 10-year-old Alexis Broadway who lives a few blocks up the street.
Alexis Broadway/pet owner: "We would take him to the park and I would get in the wagon and he would pull me."
One-year-old pitbull Rakim is currently in grave condition at the SPCA. His leg may have to be amputated.
Alexis' father says the dog somehow got loose early Wednesday morning from his chain in the backyard, and he is devastated that someone would do this to their pet.
Ed Broadway/pet owner: "I could understand that if the dog was in the middle of attacking someone and he felt like he was in the middle of saving somebody's life, I could understand him saving somebody's life, but he just deliberately abused the dog."
Chances are one of our viewers knows who this man is, and police are asking that you take a good look at him.
He is described as a light skinned African-American male, last seen wearing a red shirt, jean shorts and carrying a baseball bat. It's likely he lives or frequents the area around 35th & Spring Garden. If you have any information on who this man is or his whereabouts, please call Southwest Detectives at (215) 686-3183.
(Copyright 2002 by WPVI-TV 6. All rights reserved.)

Last Updated: Aug 21, 2002
Arrest Made; Beaten Dog Dies
One-year-old pitbull Rakim was put to sleep on Thursday.

Beaten Dog Dies; Arrest Made
Russell Watson (left) is the 17-year old accused of beating a pitbull dog with a baseball bat. The images and the story have sparked quite a response across the region. Today the dog, a 1-year old pit bull named Rahkim, was put to sleep at the request of the owner.
A teenager accused of injuring a dog with a baseball bat in a beating recorded by a security camera was found on a corner and apprehended in an alley after a short chase, police said.
Officials said the suspect was a 17-year-old male and wouldn't release additional details. He was in custody and was charged with cruelty to animals and possession of narcotics, Sgt. Roland Lee said.
Police had released the videotape from a coin-operated laundry security camera and appealed for the public's help in finding a suspect. Officers apprehended the youth about 11:20 p.m. Wednesday after receiving an anonymous telephone tip, Lee said Thursday.
The graphic tape shows the pit bull, already battered, limping into the laundry and trying to hide behind a row of washing machines.
A man follows, dangling the bat from one hand. Moments later he can be seen carefully lining up with the bat and bringing several crushing blows down on the dog. He then drags the bloodied dog outside and out of camera view.
Police said the dog was found a block away suffering from severe injuries, including a broken foot and broken jaw. It had escaped from a yard at a neighborhood home, police said. Investigators estimated it had been struck at least 15 times.
The dog was being treated at a veterinary hospital run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Police said the dog was conscious and its condition had been stabilized, but they were uncertain whether it would survive.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Action News, the SPCA and even the police have been flooded with calls offering donations to help pay Rakim's medical bills.
If you'd like to make a donation, call (215) 426-6305, ext. 211 or 213.
(Copyright 2002 by WPVI-TV 6 and the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2002

Cruelty to animals and family violence
The following studies have explored the extent to which individuals who are cruel to animals are also cruel to their children and/or partners. In relation to child abuse and animal cruelty:
• Walker (1979) examined the records of families who had been reported to child protection agencies and those who had been reported to animal protection agencies in Pennsylvania and discovered that 9% of the families had been reported to both agencies.
• Hutton’s (1981) study in the UK focused on 23 families who were investigated by the RSPCA for animal cruelty and found that 82% of these families were known to social services as having ‘children at risk’.
• Deviney et al (1983) conducted a study in New Jersey of 53 families where abuse or neglect of children had been substantiated and who had pets. They discovered that 88% of these families had abused pets. They also found that 2/3 of the abusers were male adults and 1/3 of the abusers were children.
In relation to domestic violence and animal cruelty:
• In Arkow’s (1995) study, 24% of battered women seeking refuge, and 11% of 1175 women seeking restraining orders or counseling because of domestic violence, had observed cruelty to animals in the home by their abusers.
• Quinlisk (1995) found that of 72 women in a refuge, 86% had animals in the home and in 80% of these homes the reported abuser had been violent to pets.
• Ascione (1996) discovered that 71% of 38 women in a refuge who had pets at home had observed male partners threatening or actually harming or killing pets.
• Renzetti (1992) discovered an overlap between violence to pets and to partners by women in lesbian relationships.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Animal cruelty: warning sign for other violence
Thursday, May 3, 2001

A year-long study in the United States reveals that animal cruelty is a warning sign for other violence.
Animal cruelty is a warning sign that an individual, particularly a child, could be involved in other violent crimes, says the Humane Society of the United States. Such individuals could pose a risk to family members as well as to the community, the society warns.
The Humane Society has released the findings of a year-long study on animal cruelty in the United States as part of its "First Strike Campaign." This educational initiative was launched by the society in 1997 to increase public and professional awareness of the connection between animal cruelty and human violence.
Nearly a third of the intentional cruelty cases studied involved actions committed by male teens younger than 18. Many of these cases of cruelty to animals also involved some form of family violence whether domestic violence, child abuse or elder abuse, the researchers found.
The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 7 million members, is the first organization to conduct a national study examining the prevalence of human violence as it relates to animal cruelty.
Cases studied were drawn from well-documented sources such as media reports and local humane societies. The HSUS compiled information from more than 1,600 cases nationwide that occurred between in the year 2000.
Girls and women are rarely responsible for animal cruelty. In the cases studied, 94 percent of intentionally cruel acts to animals were committed by males.
Thirty-one percent of the incidents involved perpetrators age 18 and younger. Four percent of those were younger than 12.
Family violence was part of 21 percent of the animal cruelty incidents.
"The high percentage of male teen-agers perpetrating intentional acts of cruelty against animals, and the large number of cruelty cases in which animal cruelty and family violence coexisted, should be a red flag to anyone concerned about reducing violence in our society," said Claire Ponder, HSUS First Strike campaign manager.
This kitten, whose eyes had be removed, was found tortured and abandoned in a Virginia field.
"You don't have to be an animal lover to see that animal cruelty is a warning sign that an individual could be involved in other violent crimes and could pose a risk to family members as well as the larger community," she said.
Many criminals, from youngsters responsible for shootings at schools to the most notorious serial killers, have had a history of cruelty to animals before acting violently against people.
Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a San Diego school in 1979, killing two children and injuring nine others, had repeatedly abused cats and dogs, setting their tails on fire.
Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler" who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes in his youth. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer impaled the heads of dogs, frogs and cats on sticks.
More recently, investigators found that Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, the two teens responsible for the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, mutilated animals.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation began to see a connection between cruelty to animals and other violent behavior in the late 1970s, according to agent Alan Brantley, who works in the bureau's behavioral science unit. Agents conducted a study of serial killers and found that most had killed or tortured an animal as children or adolescents.
The FBI now uses animal abuse as one of the indicators of possible violent behavior against humans. Special Agent Brantley said: "Animal cruelty is not a harmless venting of emotion in a healthy individual. This is a warning sign that this individual is not mentally healthy and needs some sort of intervention. Abusing animals does not dissipate those violent emotions, it may fuel them."
Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network
All Rights Reserved

State Legislature on Animal Cruelty
Alaska
ALASKA STAT. §§ 11.61.140 et seq. -- last amended 1998
Definition of Animal: A vertebrate living creature not a human being, but does not include fish.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly inflicts severe physical pain or suffering; or with criminal negligence fails to care for an animal and causes its death or severe pain or prolonged suffering.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $5000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Neither
Other Sentencing Provisions: Community service, restitution.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting, research, training, or veterinary care.
Arkansas
ARK. CODE ANN. §§ 5-62-101 et seq. -- last amended 2001
Definition of Animal: Every living creature.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly abandons any animal, subjects it to cruel mistreatment or cruel neglect, or kills or injures an animal without the owner's consent.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Seizure
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, counseling.
Exemptions: Hunting, livestock protection.
Colorado
COLO. REV. STAT. §§ 18-9-201 et seq. -- last amended 1997
Definition of Animal: Any living dumb creature.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly or with criminal negligence overdrives, overloads, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beats, needlessly mutilates or kills, carries or confines in a cruel or reckless manner, fails to provide proper food, drink, or shelter, or abandons any animal. Knowingly or intentionally tortures or torments an animal that needlessly injures, mutilates, or kills an animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class 1 Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $5000.
o Imprisonment up to 18 months.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Neither
Other Sentencing Provisions: Anger management, community service, restitution.
Exemptions: Farming, rodeos, veterinary care.
Hawaii
HAW. REV. STAT. §§ 711-1109 et seq. -- last amended 1998
Definition of Animal: Undefined.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly overdrives, overloads, tortures, torments, cruelly beats or starves any animal, or deprives of necessary sustenance, or mutilates, poisons, or kills without need, or carries in a cruel or inhumane manner.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $2000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: No.
Exemptions: Research, or veterinary care.
Idaho
IDAHO CODE §§ 25-3502 em>et seq. -- last amended 1996
Definition of Animal: Any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom, except man.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Is cruel to any animal, or causes or procures any animal to be cruelly treated, or abandons, or carries any animal in a cruel manner; cruelty means the intentional and malicious infliction of pain, physical suffering, injury or death upon an animal, or to maliciously kill, maim, wound, overdrive, overload, overwork, torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance, drink or shelter, cruelly beat, mutilate or cruelly kill an animal, or needlessly inflict unnecessary cruelty on an unfit animal, or to abandon, or confine an animal in unsanitary conditions, or fail to provide sustenance, water, or shelter.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o $100 to $5000 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Exhibitions, farming, research, veterinary care, protection of life or property, predatory animals, diseased or disabled animals.
Indiana
IND. CODE §§35-46-3-1 et seq. -- last amended 1998
Definition of Animal: Does not include a human being.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly or intentionally tortures, beats, or mutilates a vertebrate animal.
· Abandons or neglects animals
o Class B Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 180 days.
· Tortures or mutilates animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $5000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
· Previous, unrelated conviction under §35-46-3-3.
o Class D Felony *
o Fine up to $10,000.
o An additional 1-1/2 years imprisonment.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Discipline, protection of person or property, prolonged suffering.
Kansas
KAN. STAT. ANN. §§ 21-4310 et seq. -- last amended 1996
Definition of Animal: Every living vertebrate except a human being.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Intentionally kills, injures, maims, tortures, mutilates, abandons, or fails to provide food, water, or shelter.
· Cruelty to animals
o Class A Nonperson Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $2500.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Farming, protection of property, research, rodeos, veterinary practices, hunting/trapping, diseased disabled animals.
Kentucky
KY. REV. STAT. ANN. §§ 525.125 et seq. -- last amended 1992
Definition of Animal: No.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Intentionally or wantonly causes cruel or injurious mistreatment through abandonment, mutilation, beating, torturing, tormenting, failing to provide adequate food, drink, space, or health care, or subjects any animal to cruel neglect, or kills any animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $500.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Seizure
Other Sentencing Provisions: No.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting.
Mississippi
MISS. CODE ANN. §§ 97-41-1 et seq. -- last amended 1997
Definition of Animal: Any feline, exotic animal, canine, horse, mule, jack or jennet.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures, torments, unjustifiably injures, deprives of necessary sustenance, food, or drink, carries in a cruel manner, poisons, abandons, cruelly beats, needlessly mutilates, or kills any living creature.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· Malicious injury to dogs.
o Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, limited future ownership.
Unique Provisions: Livestock protection.
Exemptions: None
Montana
MONT. CODE ANN. §§ 45-8-209 et seq. -- last amended 1993
Definition of Animal: No.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly or negligently subjects an animal to mistreatment or neglect by overworking, beating, tormenting, injuring, killing, carrying in a cruel manner, failing to provide an animal with proper food, drink, shelter, or medical care, or abandoning a helpless animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Classification of crime defined in statute.
o Fine up to $500.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· 2nd or subsequent offense of cruelty to animals.
o Classification of crime defined in statute.
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 2 years.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Forfeiture
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, limited future ownership.
Unique Provisions: Prohibits animal races.
Exemptions: Farming, research, humane euthanization.
Nebraska
NEB. REV. STAT. §§ 28-1008 et seq. -- last amended 1995
Definition of Animal: Any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Abandons, cruelly mistreats, or cruelly neglects an animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class II Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· 2nd or subsequent offense of cruelty to animals.
o Class I Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Seizure
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting, research, rodeos, training, veterinary care, humane euthanization, pest control.
Nevada
NEV. REV. STAT. §§ 574.050 et seq. -- last amended 2001
Definition of Animal: Does not include the human race, but includes every other living creature.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Overdrives, overloads, tortures, cruelly beats, unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates, kills, administers a poisonous or noxious drug, deprives of or neglects to provide necessary sustenance, food or drink, or abandons an animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o $200 to $1000 fine.
o 2 days to 6 months imprisonment.
· 2nd offense of cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o $500 to $1000 fine.
o 10 days - 6 months imprisonment.
· 3rd or subsequent offense of cruelty to animals.
o Category C Felony
o Fine up to $10,000.
o 1 year to 5 years imprisonment.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Community service, cost of care, psychiatric evaluation and counseling.
Unique Provisions: Poisoning horses, mules, or cattle is a Category C felony.
Exemptions: Rodeos, livestock shows, ranching, hunting, dangerous animals, farming, research.
New Jersey
N.J. REV. STAT. ANN. §§ 4:22.15 et seq. -- last amended 1998
Definition of Animal: Includes the whole brute creation.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Overdrives, overloads, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, carries in a cruel manner, abandons a sick or disabled animal, cruelly beats or otherwise abuses, needlessly mutilates, or kills a living animal.
· Cruelty to animals
o Disorderly persons offense.
o $250 to $1000 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Community service, cost of care.
Unique Provisions: Provides for civil remedies.
Exemptions: Farming, exhibitions, equestrian teams, pet shops.
North Dakota
N.D. CENT. CODE §§ 36-21.1-01 et seq. -- last amended 1999
Definition of Animal: Every living animal except the human race.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Overdrives, overloads, tortures, cruelly beats, neglects, carries in a cruel manner, administers a poisonous substance or noxious drug, or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates, or kills any animal or cruelly works it when unfit for labor; deprives any animal of necessary food, water, or shelter; keeps any animal in an enclosure without exercise or wholesome change of air; abandons any animal; allows a sick or disabled animal to lie in a public place more than 3 hours after notice; cages an animal for public display unless the cage is of solid material on 3 sides and the horizontal dimension of the cage is 4 times the length of the caged animal.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor
o $2000 fine.
o 1 year imprisonment.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Fairs, zoos.
Ohio
OHIO REV. CODE ANN. §§ 959.01 et seq. -- last amended 1977
Definition of Animal: No.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Tortures, deprives of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beats, needlessly mutilates or kills, or confines without a sufficient quantity of good wholesome food and water, and access to shelter from wind, rain, snow and direct sunlight, or carries in a cruel manner.
· Cruelty to animals.
o 2nd Degree Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $750.
o Imprisonment up to 90 days.
· Abandons an animal.
o Minor Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $100.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Farming, veterinary care.
Pennsylvania
18 PA. CONS. STAT. § 5511 -- last amended 1995
Definition of Animal: Domestic Animal: Any dog, cat, equine animal, bovine animal, sheep, goat or porcine animal.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Willfully and maliciously kills, maims or disfigures any domestic animal or domestic fowl, administers poison, harasses, annoys, injures, attempts to injure, molests or interferes with a dog guide; willfully and maliciously kills, maims or disfigures, or administers any poisonous substance to any zoo animal in captivity; willfully and maliciously kills, maims, mutilates, tortures or disfigures any dog or cat, or administers any poisonous substance to any dog or cat.
· Cruelty to animals
o Summary Offense.
o $50 to $750 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 90 days
· Killing, maiming or poisoning domestic animal or domestic fowl of another.
o Second Degree Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $500.
· Killing, maiming or poisoning zoo animals.
o Third Degree Felony.
o Fine up to $15,000.
o Imprisonment up to 7 years.
· Killing, maiming or poisoning dog or cat.
o Second Degree Misdemeanor.
o At least $1000 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 2 years.
· A subsequent offense of Killing, maiming or poisoning dog or cat.
o Third Degree Felony.
o Fine up to $15,000.
o Imprisonment up to 7 years.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Unique Provisions: Cropping dogs' ears by licensed veterinarian only.
Exemptions: To protect other domestic animals or fowl, game laws, pest control, farming.
South Dakota
S.D. CODIFIED LAWS §§ 40-1-1 et seq. -- last amended 1991
Definition of Animal: Any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian or fish, except humans.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Causes an animal unnecessary, unjustifiable or unreasonable physical pain or suffering, including mutilation; fails to provide food, water, protection from the elements, adequate sanitation and facilities accepted for the type of animal; keeps any animal which past recovery or suffering or abandons the animal to die; administer or expose poison to an animal which belongs to another; kills or injures any animal of another; impounds any animal without proper care for more than 12 hours; inhumanely treats an animal.
· Poison, intentionally kill, and inhumanely treat an animal.
o Class 1 Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting, protection of life, limb or property, research, veterinary care.
Tennessee
TENN. CODE ANN. §§ 39-14-201 et seq. -- last amended 1997
Definition of Animal: A domesticated living creature or a wild creature previously captured.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Intentionally or knowingly tortures, maims, grossly overworks, fails to provide necessary food, water, care or shelter for an animal, abandons, transports in a cruel manner, inflicts burns, cuts, lacerations, or other injuries or pain to any animal by any method including blistering compounds to the legs or hooves of horses.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Class A Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $2500.
o 11 months, 29 days to 30 years imprisonment.
· Intentional killing of animals.
o Classification of crime defined in statute (ranges from Class A Misdemeanor to Class B Misdemeanor.).
o $2500 to $25,000 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 11 months, 29 days.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, limited future animal ownership.
Unique Provisions: Trier of fact can award up to $4,000 in non-economic damages to a person whose companion animal is killed or sustained injury.
Exemptions: Farming, research, veterinary care, protection of life and property.
Utah
UTAH CODE ANN. §§ 76-9-301 et seq. -- last amended 1996
Definition of Animal: A live, nonhuman vertebrate creature.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence fails to provide necessary food, care, or shelter for an animal, or abandons, transports in a cruel manner, or injures an animal; tortures, administers poison, or kills an animal without legal privilege to do so.
· Cruelty to animals (committed intentional or knowingly).
o Class B Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months
· Cruelty to animals (committed recklessly or with criminal negligence).
o Class C Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $750.
o Imprisonment up to 90 days.
· Aggravated cruelty (committed intentional or knowingly).
o Class A Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $2500
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
· Aggravated cruelty (committed recklessly).
o Class B Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $1000.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· Aggravated cruelty (committed with criminal negligence).
o Class C Misdemeanor.
o Fine up to $750.
o Imprisonment up to 90 days.
Note: Prior convictions allow for increased penalties.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, counseling, limited future animal ownership.
Exemptions: Protection of hoofed and companion animals, hunting, veterinary care, research, humanely destroys an animal found suffering, training of animals.
West Virginia
W. VA. CODE §§ 61-8-19 et seq. -- last amended 1995
Definition of Animal: No.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Mistreats, abandons or withholds proper sustenance, including food, water, shelter or medical treatment necessary to sustain normal health or to end suffering, or abandons an animal to die.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor.
o $100 to $1000 fine.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· 2nd or subsequent violation of cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor.
o $500 to $1000 fine.
o 90 days to 1 year imprisonment.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Community service, cost of care, no animal ownership during probation.
Unique Provisions: Prohibits administration of controlled substances to alter performance.
Exemptions: Farming, hunting, training,
Wyoming
WYO. STAT. § 6-3-203 et seq. -- last amended 1994
Definition of Animal: No.
Statute Summary: A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if the person:
Knowingly overworks, overdrives, overloads, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beats, injures, mutilates, kills, carries an animal in a cruel manner, fails to provide proper food, drink or protection from the weather, abandons, fails to provide the animal with appropriate care in the case of serious illness or injury.
· Cruelty to animals.
o Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $750.
o Imprisonment up to 6 months.
· Aggravated cruelty to animals or 2nd or subsequent offense of cruelty to animals.
o High Misdemeanor
o Fine up to $5000.
o Imprisonment up to 1 year.
Forfeiture of Animal/Seizure: Both
Other Sentencing Provisions: Cost of care, limited future ownership of animals.
Exemptions: Farming, rodeos, use of dogs or raptors in hunting, use of dogs in livestock management, person humanely destroying an animals, training of dogs and raptors.

Source http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=47#States