Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
03/05/2008 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB273 | |
| HB163 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 273 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 163 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 273-CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 273.
1:54:55 PM
KATHERINE PUSTAY, staff to Senator Wielechowski, sponsor of SB
273 said the bill seeks to increase penalties for the most
heinous acts of animal cruelty and criminalize participation in
animal fights. Currently in Alaska a person can torture or
poison an animal and only be charged with a misdemeanor. The
bill won't change the penalty for causing injury to an animal
due to criminal negligence. Currently, 44 states and the
District of Columbia have enacted felony-level penalties for
heinous acts of animal cruelty. Alaska ranks among the weakest
with respect to animal protection.
MS. PUSTAY said that research indicates that without
intervention, people who abuse and kill animals are more likely
to also abuse humans. Over 70 percent of pet owners that enter
domestic violence shelters indicate that their batterer
threatened, injured, or killed family pets. Many abusers have a
history of abusing animals that precedes domestic violence
toward their partner. Hopefully, she said, the committee will
also discuss ways to strengthen the application toward domestic
violence cases. Animal cruelty has been found to be an indicator
for predicting which children subsequently will exhibit
antisocial and/or aggressive behavior. Serial and school killers
frequently have histories of animal abuse. She highlighted the
wide ranging support for the bill. "We believe that passage of
felony-level animal cruelty is critical in halting the
progression of violent crime," she said.
MS. PUSTAY referred to the issue of proportionality that the
Department of Law raised during the previous hearing, and said
the sponsor believes that there is an issue with the way
domestic violence cases are prosecuted. The way the statute is
written, a person who "knowingly inflicts severe and prolonged
physical pain or suffering on an animal" is committing an
offense that is similar to assault in the first degree. The
penalty for first degree assault on a person is a class A
felony. SB 273 says that same level of assault on an animal is a
class C felony. We don't intend to suggest that crimes against
animals should be punished the same as crimes against humans,
but we do want to say that torturing an animal is not acceptable
in this state, she said.
1:57:28 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked her to elaborate on the link between animal
cruelty and domestic violence.
MS. PUSTAY referred to a fact sheet in the packet from the
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) citing
numerous studies that indicate there's an overlap.
CHAIR FRENCH asked if abusers sometimes use pets as a proxy for
abusing a spouse.
MS. PUSTAY said she understands that threatening violence toward
a pet is oftentimes used to exert control over another person.
1:59:20 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI provided statistics that he finds
startling. NCADV reports that 71 percent of pet owners who enter
domestic violence shelters report that their batterer
threatened, hurt, or killed family pets; one study found that 87
percent of batterers perpetrated pet abuse in the presence of
their partner for the purpose of exerting control; and up to 76
percent of batterers perpetrated pet abuse in the presence of
children. "There's a staggering correlation … between pets and
domestic violence - unfortunately so," he said.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI, responding to a question from Senator
French, explained that currently there are 4 provisions that
apply to animal cruelty: torturing an animal, criminal
negligence of an animal, killing or injuring an animal by use of
a decompression chamber, and injuring or killing an animal with
poison. Torturing or intentionally inflicting prolonged pain and
suffering on an animal should be punished by more than a $100
fine; it should send a clear message that it won't be tolerated.
The policy choice was to make torture, use of a decompression
chamber, and poisoning of an animal a felony offense.
2:02:11 PM
CHAIR FRENCH mentioned the difference between the penalties for
AS 11.61.140(a)(2) and the statute on promoting an exhibition of
fighting animals.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI highlighted that promoting or exhibiting a
fighting animal is currently a class C felony and in many states
it's either a misdemeanor or felony to be a spectator. This bill
says promoting an exhibition of fighting animals is a class A
misdemeanor for a first offense and a class C felony for each
subsequent offense.
2:03:26 PM
ANNE CARPENETI, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division,
Department of Law, said the department has serious concern with
raising animal cruelty from a class A misdemeanor to a class C
felony. Animal cruelty is shocking and despicable and it's
obviously related to domestic violence, but DOL believes that
one year in jail is enough for that conduct. She noted that for
practical reasons, most domestic violence charges against humans
are resolved as class A misdemeanors. Alaska prosecutors try 5
percent of the cases that are brought, which is the highest in
the nation, and 95 percent of the cases are resolved.
Considering the proportionality of penalties for injury to
people, this bill would send the wrong message, she said. The
increased penalty would also put prosecutors in a more difficult
position with respect to allocating resources.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how many prosecutions the DOL does each year
for animal cruelty. At a future hearing he'd like to hear
anecdotes about the range of severity in cases.
MS. CARPENETI agreed to get the information. She reminded
members that the statute allows a separate charge for every
animal that is mistreated, and the sentences could be served
consecutively.
2:06:42 PM
CHAIR FRENCH said he'd also like to know the longest sentence
ever imposed when animal cruelty is the only charge. The
sponsor's point is that in the most heinous cases, having a
bigger hammer has advantages.
MS. CARPENETI pointed out that the mandatory minimum for a
second domestic violence related fourth degree assault is 30
days. The mandatory minimum for a third domestic violence
related fourth degree assault is 45 days. The penalty range for
a first class C felony conviction is zero to two years.
Conceivably the sentence for a felony level cruelty to animals
could be less than that, but it's unlikely, and the message it
sends is a concern, she said.
CHAIR FRENCH said this bill would make it a class C felony to
knowingly inflict severe and prolonged physical pain or
suffering on an animal, and he believes that doing that to a
human being would be assault in the first degree. That's a class
A felony, and the penalty is up to 20 years in prison.
MS. CARPENETI clarified that she's talking about the practical
reality rather than the penalty that's on the books.
CHAIR FRENCH agreed that someone would make that point, but the
reciprocal point is that the parallel harm to a human is 20
years in prison.
MS. CARPENETI said the statutes don't match exactly because the
assault statutes talk about injury and the cruelty to animals
statutes talk about pain and suffering. That's interesting in
itself, she said, because you don't know.
CHAIR FRENCH responded we'd know it when we looked at the
injuries to the animal, the photographs, and the weight of the
animal.
MS. CARPENETI added that proving prolonged pain and suffering.
is more difficult. The statutes don't really match because for
assault you must prove injury, serious physical injury, or
physical injury.
2:09:40 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI remarked that after many discussions he
still doesn't understand why the administration doesn't support
the bill. He agreed with the Chair that the similar sort of
assault to a human being would be a class A felony, and a
potential prison sentence of 20 years. He surmised that
poisoning or putting a human being in a decompression chamber
would be an unclassified felony so he disagrees with the
proportionality argument. Also, if someone were to slash and
destroy another person's picture or painting of a beloved pet,
that is a class C felony, but if the same person inflicted the
same damage on the pet, that would only be a misdemeanor under
current law. "There's no proportionality there so I respectfully
disagree with the … administration on this matter," he said.
MS. CARPENETI responded that the criminal laws aren't perfect;
the $500 felony threshold for a class C felony is nearly 30
years old and it's worth discussion.
CHAIR FRENCH announced he would hold public testimony open so
that the full committee could hear from the public. He set SB
273 aside.
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