Will Federal Felony Animal Cruelty Laws Help Animals?

Laws regarding murder, rape, child abuse, domestic violence and other violent crimes are almost always enforced on the state level. Murder, rape and many other violent crimes do not require federal statutes because everyone understands that not only are these laws on the books of states, but the police actually enforce the laws.

Animal cruelty, including dog fighting, is minimally enforced. Anti domestic violence and anti drunk driving organizations advocated for a widespread appropriate police response to those crimes decades ago, and continue to do so today. They did not argue that because there was a minimal police response, a mother from an anti drunk driving organization or someone from an anti domestic violence organization would substitute for the police.

When it comes to animal cruelty, numerous animal organizations fall all over themselves to present themselves as the go to place that investigates animal cruelty. They are enablers helping law enforcement to minimally respond to animal cruelty related crimes.

Many are the times dog fighters and animal abusers move their animals to another location after getting paid a visit from a humane investigator or someone else from an animal organization.

There is no excuse for any animal organization to conduct criminal investigations of any sort, including for animal cruelty and dog fighting. This matter belongs in the hands of the police - this is what animal organizations concerned about animal cruelty and dog fighting should advocate for, and have completely failed to do for decades now.

Token police forces or teams fielded to respond to animal cruelty are ineffective and do little more than placate the public. They, no different than ineffective, often harmful humane investigators, enable larger law enforcement to continue ignoring or minimally respond to dog fighting and animal cruelty.

Because animal cruelty and dog fighting can take place anytime, anywhere, only public law enforcement has the ability to respond appropriately to these crimes. Imagine if special teams were used to enforce drunk driving and domestic violence. This means that when those teams are off duty, or tied up at one location while the crime is occurring at another, no one gets arrested. Over 99 per cent of every drunk driver and domestic violence offender would never get caught or arrested if the police respond to those crimes as they do to animal cruelty.

Absent for decades now is advocacy to ensure law enforcement responds appropriately and in a timely manner to calls of dog fighting and animal cruelty, including when officers during the course of their tours of duty encounter these crimes on their own.

As long as the lack of enforcement continues, as long as animal organizations continue doing ineffectively and disgracefully what the police should be doing, as long as there is no widespread and appropriate police response to animal cruelty and dog fighting, then it does not matter how many more laws are put on the books. Animal abuse and dog fighting will persist as exploited and rarely enforced crimes.

If only group think did not exist, and someone somewhere that truly cares about animals investigated the poor police response to animal cruelty and dog fighting calls, they could expose what I have been unsuccessful in exposing. Animal cruelty and dog fighting continues to have an extremely poor police response, with very few exceptions.  The paper trail of this is easy to locate. Unfortunately, people will complain about animal cruelty, but no one is interested in making sure there is an effective response to it. Token teams fielded by a police department are no better than if token teams exist for drunk driving, domestic violence, murder or any other crime of violence. If most of law enforcement ignores or minimally responds to a crime, that crime will flourish. Widespread appropriate enforcement, not token teams, are needed for all crimes, especially crimes of violence. Animal cruelty should not continue to be the exception.

If that same person also investigates the animal organizations that claim to investigate animal cruelty, they would see firsthand how these organizations are ineffective and often harmful. It is not uncommon for these organizations to provide animal abusers and dog fighters a heads up moment or opportunity to move their animals and continue their crimes against animals elsewhere. Its no different than if they knocked on the door of a drug dealer. The drug dealer will not let anyone in if there is no warrant  (getting warrants often requires a lot of effort and police work ), and will move his drugs elsewhere after realizing he or she has been exposed.

Lessening or stopping animal cruelty and dog fighting will never happen as long as minimal enforcement continues to exist, along with ineffective, often harmful so called investigations by non police animal organizations.

Federal laws, any law, means nothing in the absence of widespread meaningful enforcement.

It is for these reasons that there are few arrests for animal cruelty in relation to how common and widespread are these crimes.

It is for these reasons that dog fighters have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning than ever getting arrested.

Making animal cruelty a federal offense  makes a lot of people feel good. It helps politicians because, after all, who will say this is not a good thing? It will enrich the careers and coffers of certain individuals and animal organizations that will claim success. But for suffering animals, little to nothing will get better because the absence of laws was not the problem. The absence of widespread, appropriate and timely enforcement of new and existing laws is the problem.