February 13, 2024 | Written by Robert Preston
A couple of weeks ago, we ran a story about allegations of potential animal cruelty on the northeast side of Douglas. In our story we discussed reports of an individual or individuals poisoning dogs in a particular neighborhood.
Some of these dogs were strays. Some of them were family pets. What was particularly disturbing to me was the fact that some dogs were poisoned while they were in fenced backyards.
We have a terrible problem in Coffee County with stray dogs and cats. There are dogs and cats wandering the highways, sidewalks, neighborhoods, and industrial areas all over our community. Part of me wants to believe that what we covered in our story was a reaction to the stray dog and stray cat problem. But when you see dogs getting poisoned in fenced yards you’ve got to ask yourself why this is happening and why it can’t be stopped.
Animal cruelty is difficult to address from a law enforcement standpoint. Earlier this year, I stumbled upon something that may shed some light as to why.
First of all, it’s very difficult to prove animal cruelty. People’s attitudes about animals differ tremendously. For every person who thinks that their dog should be treated just like a member of the family, there are others who have no problems tying a dog in the backyard and leaving it there. As far as how the law addresses the treatment of animals, it’s fairly basic: Make sure that they’re healthy, have food water, and they’re not neglected. Outside of that, it’s pretty wide open.
The reason why may be is something that you probably haven’t previously considered. As far as the law is concerned, pets aren’t that different than livestock. That may not make very many people happy, and I certainly think there’s a big difference between a dog or a cat or a rabbit and a cow or a pig, but the laws are written the way they are with a very specific reason in mind.
Farmers and, to a degree, government agencies, are always concerned that animal rights activists may find a way to interject themselves into the livestock industry. Processing cattle, chickens, and hogs is neither a pretty nor delicate operation. Even though processors do their best to make it as painless and sanitary as possible, it remains unpleasant at best. Those who wish to stop the commercial processing of animals for food will always look for a way to bring such operations to a screeching halt.
And the way to do that just might be through the pet industry.
If laws were written to bring more protection to domestic animals, it wouldn’t be a big stretch for animal rights activists to attempt to apply those same protections to farm animals. At that point, the definition of pet versus livestock would be up for debate, and a like-minded judge could easily declare farm animals as pets.
And that could be disastrous for the livestock industry.
When lawmakers draft animal cruelty laws, the primary emphasis may not be protecting dogs and cats; it may be to protect the poultry, cattle, and pork producers from having to afford their livestock the same comforts that pet owners are expected to provide for their animals.
What this means practically speaking is that as long as pets are given the same basic needs as cows or pigs, there’s not much that law enforcement can do. That is something that upsets me – we have pets at our house and we consider them to be a part of the family. The thought of treating a family dog or cat in the same manner as one would treat a cow in a pasture disturbs me. But such is the way the laws are written.
Every once in a while, though, there are cases of such extreme cruelty that officers have no choice but to get involved. Even when that happens, the cases can be difficult to prove.
So where does this meandering discussion lead us? 1. Animal cruelty in Douglas and Coffee County is a major problem. 2. Proving animal cruelty is difficult because laws are often written to keep protections afforded to pets from being applied to livestock, which means that as long as pets are given the same basic needs as cows or pigs, there’s not much legally that can be done. 3. It takes a lot of work to prove animal cruelty and the penalties aren’t particularly tough unless there are other crimes involved, such as in dog fighting or chicken fighting.
In spite of that, we have a serious problem with stray animals and animal cruelty in this community. I would like to see our agencies use some creativity and imagination to address these issues.
DouglasNow is your local news source!