April 28, 2001
Dear Concerned Animal Lover,
Due to the overwhelming response
to the coverage regarding local animal cruelty cases in the past year,
the community has asked for more information. A group of concerned
citizens and animal welfare groups with the support of Jay Warren with
WSLS Channel 10 news recently hosted a Public Forum on Animal Cruelty on
April 16th at the Roanoke Higher Education Center, in Roanoke, VA. We
had a wonderful response with nearly 200 participants! We never could
have done it without your support and attention to this important issue.
As you have heard at the Forum,
and in the news, Virginia's law against cruelty to pets is a Class 1
Misdemeanor. A bill was before the state legislature last year to make
this type of criminal act a Class 6 Felony on the first offense.
Unfortunately, the bill did not make it out of the Senate. What we hoped
to accomplish in the week or so before the Forum was to get as many
signatures in support of this amended draft bill as possible. We had
nearly 4,000 signatures by the Forum date on the petitions, with more
coming in every day. We were thrilled that Senator John S. Edwards came
to show his support and has offered to sponsor this bill. Delegate Allen
W. Dudley was also in attendance.
Enclosed please find another copy
of the petition showing support for amending the current bill (see back
of page). Feel free to make copies. We can continue to get as many
signatures showing public support for this amendment and bring to the
next Legislative Session. The next session is in early winter (January,
2002) so we would like to get petitions back by early December. If this
date changes and we need them earlier, we will send out an updated
letter for your information. I suggest that when you get them filled
out, forward directly to me (address below) rather than hold onto them
until December. Also, you may check on our webpage for more information:
www.vapaws.org.
There are many ways you can help,
including writing letters to your local newspapers, and writing and
calling your Legislators directly (http://206.246.254.9/whosmy/constinput.asp).
Call your local news media and thank them for broadcasting animal
welfare stories. If you have questions, concerns or suggestions please
feel free to contact me. I would like to thank everyone for their
support, donations, and wonderful thoughts for Grace and all of the
animals.
Thank you very much!
Lila Borge Wills
c/o VA PAWS
P.O. Box 172
Christiansburg, VA 24068-0172
(540) 651-4530
vapaws@swva.net
DRAFT bill that would amend 3.1-796.122 (Cruelty to animals; penalty)
of the Code of Virginia, by deleting the underlined sections and adding
the italicized print, reads as follows:
"B. Any person who (i)
tortures, willfully inflicts inhumane injury or pain not connected with
bona fide scientific or medical experimentation, or cruelly and
unnecessarily beats, maims, mutilates or kills any animal whether
belonging to himself or another; or (ii) instigates, engages in, or in
any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal set forth in clause (i)
of this subsection; or (iii) causes any of the actions described in
subdivisions (i) and (ii) of this subsection, or being the owner of such
animal permits such acts to be done by another; and has been
within five years convicted of a violation of this subsection or
subsection A shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony if the
current violation or any previous violation of this subsection or
subsection A resulted such conduct results in the
death of an animal or the euthanasia of an animal based on the
recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such
euthanasia was necessary due to the condition of the animal, and such
condition was a direct result of a violation of this subsection or
subsection A."
Sponsored by Senator John S.
Edwards
March 2001
Please write and/or call your Legislators directly!
Internet address to find your
Legislator: http://206.246.254.9/whosmy/constinput.asp
During the legislative session
you may call the Constituent Viewpoint operators at (800) 889-0229 to
express your opinion on a legislative issue. When the General Assembly
is not in session, call (804) 698-1500 for the House of Delegates
Legislative Information Office and (804) 698-7410 for the Senate
Legislative Information Office
