Proposed animal cruelty bill would change misdemeanor to felony

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Animals that have been abused may soon have a chance at a better life if proposed legislation passes in the Virginia General Assembly.

The new law would make it a felony to even harm an animal, which is much tougher than the current standard.

"They're trying to simply change the code to where if an animal is tortured and suffers from great injury then the person can be charged with a felony, even if an animal is saved and does not die," explained attorney Gillian Deegan of Botetourt County.

Deegan believes there is a strong connection between animal abuse and human violence.

"I think by strengthening animal laws we actually do good for human beings as well because there's so much of a connection between animal cruelty and human violence," continued Deegan.

Staff members at Angels of Assisi in Roanoke are pleased with the current animal well-fare laws in Virginia, but they feel the new laws would be helpful.

"This will reinforce that and make the laws even better, " said the organization's executive director Lisa O'Neill.

O'Neill said she sees about 100 abuse cases a year, but this does not include those animal abuse cases that go unreported.

"Pretty much all the time we're dealing with some type of case or another, it varies, but we're on standby every single day," explained O'Neill.

To explain her point, Deegan simply asked, "Would you rather be shot and killed instantly, or locked in a basement to slowly starve to death?"

Deegan added, "So it doesn't make sense that we allow the animals that suffer the most to be a misdemeanor charge."