On Wednesday, a pair of horrific crimes of animal abuse was reported in these pages. From Catskill, a man is searching for answers after his dog was shot and nearly killed in a cowardly act on his property on New Year’s Day — cowardly because, police surmise, the dog was targeted as it ran away from the shooter. And from Kiskatom, a donkey, a horse and a miniature horse were found underweight and dehydrated living in squalor at the former Friar Tuck Inn and Resort. The donkey, an elegant, long-eared equine named Donny, suffered a laceration on the neck and a more painful cut on the ankle above the right front hoof. The 57-year-old caretaker was charged with animal cruelty. He has cooperated with authorities in the investigation.
We lament the outburst of animal abuse cases that occurred Tuesday and we thank the Columbia-Greene Humane Society, New York State Police and Oats’ Country Acres in Hannacroix for their help. Veterinarians who performed almost three hours of delicate surgery said the dog was fortunate not to bleed to death as it somehow walked on a wounded leg through deep woods back to its home. The three equines fared better, but they face a long period of rehabilitation.
In 2021, the Greene County Legislature established an animal abuse registry. In its form, it acts in the same way as a sex offender registry. Anyone convicted of a criminal charge of animal abuse will be placed on the list and will be barred from adopting or buying animals from animal shelters, pet stores or any other person or business involved in the exchange of animals.
Here’s the problem. Most animal abusers are charged with misdemeanors, but under New York’s Agriculture and Markets Law, which sets the standards of animal abuse and neglect. There are no provisions for felony animal abuse charges, which dilutes the authority of a registry.
Another consideration is fairness. Not everyone convicted of animal abuse is motivated by an insatiable desire to harm animals. Some people neglect their animals because they have too many, they can’t afford to feed their animals and they don’t know where to turn for help. They are victims of circumstance who should not have to go through life with a criminal record.
We think a good start is to punish serial abusers or animal owners who demonstrate gross negligence and harmful disregard for the safety of the animals in their care, and the place to start is passing tougher animal abuse laws at the state level. Serial abusers, especially those whose actions (or inaction) cause the death of an animal, should face harsher punishment.
An animal abuse registry can be a useful tool to punish a convicted abuser by holding the person accountable in the public eye. Shaming a person into stopping the abuse of animals goes only so far, though. To have an impact, the state’s animal abuse laws have to change.