When neglect crosses the line into cruelty
State and federal law makes animal cruelty and repeated forms of neglect a felony.
Throughout the U.S., these laws enjoy rare bipartisan support across racial and socio-economic lines; they are widely endorsed by the State Police, National Sheriffs’ Association and Fraternal Order of Police, who acknowledge the strong link between animal cruelty and crime. After more than 100 years of criminal justice research, animal cruelty remains the only viable predictor of violence against people.
That’s why watching the Gary Common Council eviscerate Mayor Jerome Prince’s budget proposal for animal control Monday night was so exasperating.
The Gary Animal Control division of the Gary Police Department has been abysmally (some would say criminally) underfunded for decades. Under the prior administration, the shelter had no heat for three winters in a row, subjecting both animals and staff to deplorable and inhumane conditions that would have been a plaintiff lawyer’s dream.
For years, the city has also failed to provide community outreach to identify cases of cruelty and neglect, and Gary has not properly funded veterinarian care for injured and impounded animals — ever.
Giving credit where it is due, both Prince and Council President William Godwin argued effectively to mitigate the salary difference for GAC officers who are part of GPD, and earlier this year both Prince and the council approved emergency funding for crumbling bricks at the animal shelter. Despite these welcome developments, on Monday the council voted to cut the mayor’s veterinarian budget by more than half, leaving $80,000 for the entire city for the entire year.
Again, credit is due when compared to GAC’s nonexistent funding in the past, but the errors of the past do not defend present errors, and serious financial and legal ramifications remain.
The financial rub from an inadequate veterinarian appropriation is this: A new Indiana law, I.C. 15-20-4 et seq., now makes it mandatory for city shelters to spay and neuter all dogs and cats prior to release for adoption.
Even with GAC’s nonexistent community outreach, it still takes in about 500 animals a year, the vast majority of whom have never been to a vet. That means every penny of the $80,000 appropriated for veterinary care will be consumed by Indiana’s now-mandatory spay and neuter law (500 intakes per year multiplied by about $200 per surgery equals $100,000).
Meeting state mandates will consume the council’s entire veterinary services appropriation, so there will be no money whatsoever for animals suffering from broken bones, parvo, heartworm, dog-fighting rings, being hit by a car, intentional abuse, etc.
The legal rub from an inadequate veterinarian appropriation is this: State courts throughout the country have held that failure to provide veterinarian care to a captive animal meets the statutory definition of animal cruelty. A pattern or practice of repeated animal cruelty rises to a felony under federal and state law, and there are no “governmental immunities” when officials violate statutory or constitutional mandates.
Indiana law now mandates spay and neutering, which will eventually reduce Gary’s population of abused and neglected animals, but it also mandates humane, minimal veterinary care for suffering animals. A dog or cat that has been maimed, burned, beaten, hit by a car or is suffering from an easily cured disease cannot be left to suffer untreated. It is both immoral and illegal.
So many passages in the Bible instruct that how a person or community treats animals reveals everything of importance about them. I could live anywhere in the world, and I’ve chosen to call Gary home for 25 years and fight for this heartbreaking cause because the good people here greatly outnumber the bad.
At long last we have a mayor who understands the connection between animal abuse and violent crime. Prince has shown a deep personal commitment to addressing the complicated societal factors that lead our young people to violence, including animal abuse and neglect. In this fight, he has shown leadership in the face of relentless political fallout and rancor.
Councilman Godwin also deserves credit. He has shown excellent follow-through on equitable pay for GAC, and he and the mayor appear to agree on the vital importance of a humane city, if nothing else.
Is it too much to hope their wisdom and leadership will guide the common council to follow?