Defending those who cannot speak: civil and criminal prosecution of animal abuse.

• Author: McDonald, Janet A.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated." These words attributed to the late Mahatma Gandhi starkly contrast the graphic and disturbing images of abused, neglected, and abandoned animals that are regularly found in newspaper articles and on television. According to the Humane Society of the United States, most cases are never reported and most animal suffering goes unrecognized and unabated. (1) There is no national reporting system or national registry for convicted animal abusers or for those enjoined from owning animals. It is largely an unreported crime that crosses all strata of society. This article will address misdemeanor and felony animal cruelty, confiscation by law enforcement or animal control agencies, and hoarding.

Animal cruelty, neglect, and abandonment laws are codified in every state. A complete listing of state statutes regarding animal abuse and cruelty can be found on the website of Michigan State University College of Law's Animal Legal and Historical Center. (2) Various state statutes denote intentional acts of animal cruelty as criminal misdemeanor or felony violations. In addition to state statutes, local counties and municipalities regulate animal cruelty, neglect, and abandonment. Criteria for misdemeanor and felony criminal designation vary from state-to-state as well as county-to-county. Local ordinances may contain more stringent sanctions than state statutes, so familiarity with both is required for those who practice animal law.

It is historically important to denote the two primary functions of anti-cruelty laws: the protection of property and the moral legislation (i.e., the creation of a code of conduct and proscribing behavior that cruelty to animals is "immoral and unacceptable"). (3) State laws generally penalize two types of actions under their anti-cruelty laws: intentional acts and failure to act. Beating, torturing, throwing an animal from a moving vehicle, maiming, burning, or repeatedly inflicting pain upon the animal can be classified as either felonies or misdemeanors in a state's criminal code. Similarly, failure to provide the most basic elements of care, such as food, shelter, potable water, or veterinary treatment can be codified as misdemeanors or felonies depending on the nature of the mistreatment and neglect. (4) While most states initially treated animal cruelty as misdemeanor offenses, (5) as of this year, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted at least one felony anti-cruelty law. (6)

F.S. [section]828.12 (2013), "Cruelty to Animals," provides for both misdemeanor and felony offenses. (7) Felony animal cruelty is a general-intent crime. (8) Crimes are described as being either general- or specific-intent actions. In specific-intent crimes, the prosecuting agency must prove that the defendant had a specific or particular purpose that drove him or her to commit the crime. In general-intent crimes, the prosecution need only prove that the defendant intended or did in fact commit the act. In Reynolds v. State, 842 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2002), the Florida Supreme Court held that it was within the legislature's power "to declare conduct criminal without requiring specific criminal intent to achieve a certain result" and found the statute to be constitutional. There are a wide variety of circumstances that give rise to felony animal cruelty and abuse cases...