State of Georgia has stiff animal cruelty penalties

Published 2:25 am Tuesday, December 6, 2005





VALDOSTA — In March 2000, the Animal Protection Act was passed by the Georgia General Assembly. It was signed into law by Gov. Roy Barnes on April 27, 2000, taking effect on May 1, 2000.

The Animal Protection Act of 2000 amended Section 16-12-4 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, adding a new felony crime of aggravated cruelty to animals and increasing the punishment applicable to certain acts of animal cruelty from a misdemeanor to a felony. It also created a new crime of intentional abandonment of a domestic animal and provided civil immunity for people who make good faith reports of animal cruelty to law enforcement. It provided a statewide definition of an “animal control officer” and allowed for the rescue and impoundment of animals which have been subjected to animal cruelty by local law enforcement.

“This law was designed to put some teeth into Georgia’s animal cruelty laws, so that these offenders can be treated with a level of seriousness which is warranted by the nature of their crimes,” said Assistant District Attorney for the Macon Judicial Circuit Kimberly Schwartz, Humane Association of Georgia, Inc., Board of Directors member.

Mechelle Sullivan, Human Society of Valdosta-Lowndes County Foster/Adoption coordinator, believes many people are unaware of Georgia’s tough animal cruelty criminal provisions. Humane Association officials believe incidents of animal cruelty go unreported because of a lack of understanding of what constitutes animal cruelty and the agency that should be notified when it is witnessed.

According to Section 16-12-4 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, “a person commits the offense of cruelty to animals when he or she causes death or unjustifiable physical pain or suffering to any animal by an act, an omission, or willful neglect.” A misdemeanor charge, any person who is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of this shall be punished by imprisonment not to exceed 12 months, a fine not exceed $5,000, or both, according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture. A second or subsequent conviction that results in the death of an animal is defined as a “misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature” and is punished by imprisonment for not less than three months or more than 12 months, a fine not exceed $10,000, or both. In this instance, punishment cannot be suspended, probated, or withheld, according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Georgia Animal Cruelty Criminal Provisions.

Violations under this section include everything from the intentional withholding of food and water to not providing sufficient and appropriate food and water, adequate heat, ventilation, or sanitary shelter.

A person commits the offense of aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, when “he or she knowingly and maliciously causes death or physical harm to an animal by rendering a part of such animal’s body useless by seriously disfiguring such animal.” A person convicted of aggravated animal cruelty is punished by not less than one nor more than five years imprisonment, a fine not exceed $15,000, or both.

Capt. David Arnold, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department, said any violators of state animal cruelty laws by people living in Lowndes County will be taken into police custody if the situation warrants such. He said each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis and all reports are investigated.

To read the full Georgia Animal Cruelty Criminal Provisions, please visit the Georgia Department of Agriculture Web site at www.agr.state.ga.us.



To contact reporter Jessica Pope, please call 244-3400, ext. 255.

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