SDFACT South Dakotans Fighting Animal Cruelty Together: Get the Facts from SD FACT

Create Felony Level Penalties in South Dakota for Malicious and Intentional Acts of Animal Cruelty

Malicious and intentional acts of animal cruelty against a dog, cat or horse should be a class 6 felony in South Dakota punishable by two years in prison or a $4,000 fine, or both. Passing felony animal cruelty laws for companion animals is a crucial step in deterring violent offenders, ensuring community safety, and protecting pets.

Forty-eight states have laws making certain types of animal cruelty a felony and only 2 states do not, South Dakota and North Dakota.

In a survey of over 1,000 representative U.S. households, 85% of those responding thought it was either “very important” or “important” to protect animals from cruelty. (2006)
In South Dakota state law, the same level of penalty applies whether someone neglects to provide adequate food for an animal or maliciously stabs, tortures and kills that animal.
Neighboring states have had these laws on the books for 10 to 20 years and these states still enjoying a viable Ag economy. The proposed language will exempt traditional Ag practices as well as hunting and fishing.
The table below compares SD’s current laws for torturing a pet to those in neighboring states (data gathered from Animal Legal Defense Fund, Pet Abuse.com, The HSUS, ASPCA, and official state statute websites).

State	Max Penalty	Max Fine	Max Jail Time	Counseling	Future Pet Ownership	Year Enacted	Animals
IA	Class D felony: 2^nd offence	$7,500	5 years	Mandatory for torturous acts	No specific provision	2000	All vertebrates other than livestock, game, furbearer, fish, reptile, amphibian or nuisance wildlife
MN	Felony: 1^st offence	$10,000	4 years	May order	May ban future ownership	2001	All pets or companion animals
MO	Class D felony: 1^st offence	$5,000	4 years	No specific provision	No specific provision	1994	All vertebrates
MT	Felony: 1^st offence	$2,500	2 years	No specific provision	May ban future ownership for term of sentence	1993	All animals
NE	Class IV felony: 1^st offense	$10,000	5 years	No specific provision	Shall ban future ownership for 5-15 years	2002	All vertebrates except un-captured wild animals
SD	Class 1 misdemeanor	$2,000	1 year	No specific provision	No specific provision	N/A	All animals
WY	Felony: 1^st offence	$5,000	2 years	No specific provision	May ban future ownership	2003	All animals

South Dakotans want stronger penalties as our laws are outdated; advocates have been pushing for felony level penalties for the past 5 years.

There is a proven link between animal cruelty and human violence, acts of malicious and intentional cruelty against an animal should be taken seriously, the state should appropriate prison time, fines should be mandated and counseling offered for these violent offenders.

Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and violent offences and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. People who abuse and kill animals are more likely to target human victims.
Animal cruelty is a predictor and indicator of violent crimes, domestic violence and child abuse. In a 20 year study, 70% of animal abusers were found to have then committed other crimes and 44% went on to harm people. (Arluke, A. & Luke, C. 1997)
Researchers found that there was animal abuse in 88% of families who were under State supervision due to the physical abuse of their children. (DeViney, Dickert & Lockwood, 1983)
Many times a parent or domestic partner who is abusive may kill, or threaten to kill, the household pets to intimidate family members into sexual abuse, to remain silent about previous or current abuse, or simply to psychologically torture the victims, flexing their "power". This is demonstrated in a current Mitchell case of a man accused of assaulting his daughter at gun point after killing
her dog: http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/sd-man-pleads-not-guilty-to-kidnapping-daughter/?id=138389
State and national surveys of domestic violence victims consistently find that as many as 71% of battered women report their partners threatened, or killed, the family pet. (Ascione, 1995)

Horrific acts of animal cruelty don't happen often but when they do, appropriate state laws should be in place to ensure the offenders get counseling (if appropriate) so they will not go on to harm humans. Below find links to several recent and relevant cases:

Brookings: Man attacks pet; kicking Chihuahua

http://www.kdlt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21656&Itemid=57

Sioux Falls: Man kills 5 pound Chihuahua

http://www.ksfy.com/story/18767291/man-arrested-for-killing-5-lb-chihuaha

Burbank: Dog Beaten to death with hammer

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2011/08/13/community/doc4e45eb9a44a20686551130.txt

Fort Pierre: Man steals and tortures rodeo horse; Dually

http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/37319/

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=90720

Lead: Dog found shot; no charges pending until offender found

http://www.bhpioneer.com/local_news/article_1873a30c-dbf1-11e1-9493-0019bb2963f4.html

Yankton: Woman beats cat to death with hammer