San Luis weighs ordinance against animal abuse

SAN LUIS, Ariz. – City prosecutor Jose Angel de la Vara recently found his hands tied when he sought to prosecute a dog owner who severely beat his pet without leaving visible wounds.

And now de la Vara is at work on a proposed city ordinance that would crack down on animal abuse in San Luis.

He opened a case against the dog owner in September but closed it in February after determining the city could do nothing to the owner.

“I had a case of a man who beat his dog very hard because it got out,” de la Vara said. “The police department handled the call, but could do nothing about it. I reviewed the case and found that in (state) statutes it’s not a crime to hit an animal if it doesn’t leave wounds.”

But in his research, the prosecutor said, he found that the same law includes a provision that allows cities to impose its own, stiffer ordinance.

“The problem that I see is that people can beat their pets and cannot be punished if the animal is not injured. That concerns me because it sends a message that that’s OK, that nothing is going to happen.”

In April, de la Vara presented an ordinance proposal that would make animal abuse a misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of up to six months and/or a fine of up to $2,500.

The council instructed de la Vara to continue to work on the proposal and return with a final version for possible adoption.

De la Vara said his goal in seeking the ordinance is to promote education that will, in turn, prevent future cases of animal abuse, most of which involve dogs.

“Dogs and most pets are good,” he said. “Even if you strike them, in 15 seconds they are again wagging their tails, so they are not completely protected.”

The ordinance would exempt from prosecution those people who use force to protect themselves and other people against aggressive animals.

It would prohibit administering lethal substances to animals, although it would allow for euthanasia by veterinarians of sick animals and would allow for use of substances to control ticks and fleas.

If the ordinance gets adopted, San Luis would enforce the stiffest ordinance against animal abuse in the state, de la Vara said.

“All the cities are guided by the (state) statute. so we would be pioneers,” he said. “Other prosecutors have told me they are waiting to see how this ordinance works out before proposing it in their own cities.”