Jackson Jambalaya

The House Subcommittee on Animal Welfare held its second hearing yesterday on proposed reforms to Mississippi's animal cruelty laws. Representative Greg Ward of Ripley chaired the hearing. Representatives Huddleston, Pigott, Parker, Howell, Reed, Shows, and Staples attended as members of the subcommittee. The small committee room was packed with spectators such as Samantha Cawthorn and Bob Moore (Farm Bureau), Pippa Jackson (Animal Rescue Fund), Cathy Gaitlin (CARA), Gail Brown and Marlo Kirkpatrick (MS-Fact), several veterinarians, Lydia Sattler (Humane Society), WLBT, Jackson Free Press, Bob Anderson (Capital Resources Group), Doug Jeffcoat (Board of Veterinary Medicine), a representative from the Mississippi Poultry Association, and Senator Rob Dearing.

Mr. Ward opened the hearing by proclaiming "the main goal of the hearing is to give the committee's legal assistants information they can use to draft a bill". A bill strengthening the penalties for animal cruelty passed the Senate this year but died in Ward's committee. Mr. Ward said he wanted to pass a bill in the next session and take some time to "get it right" when drafting new legislation. He took a moment to lecture the audience on "unintentionally hurting when they mean to help"

Deputy Ken Sullivan of Rankin County Animal Control testified at the hearing. Mr. Sullivan was crisp and articulate in his testimony as he described the problems he faces in the field. Officer Sullivan oversees three employees, operates the county shelter, and has been serving in his position for nine years. He stated most of the cases he investigated were actual neglect and in most cases, his office tried to work out a resolution best serving the animal's welfare without going to court. He said he had seen maybe "foure cases of outright animal cruelty in the last nine years". It must be noted most of the cases he described involved horses, not cats or dogs. He also stated the recidivism rate was not a good one because the penalties were too low.

Mr. Sullivan then discussed the current laws governing animal cruelty offenses. He called Section 91-4-9 a "wonderful statute". He said the main problems with the current laws are "the penalties are not high enough". Mr. Ward asked Officer Sullivan if a provision for a psychiatric evaluation was needed. The Rankin Deputy replied it was definitely needed and would be a "good provision". Mr. Sullivan also provided some other facts. 80% of the suspects had prior criminal history and that offenders will usually commit other criminal offenses in the future. He said the statute needed two levels of animal cruelty offenses similar to how the law treats simple and aggravated assault. He stated there needs to be "an intent element" that for a "malicious act". The deputy concluded his testimony by distributing this packet of information to the subcommittee. (The first page is the agenda I included.).

Dr. Bob Watson, former President of the Mississippi Veterinary Association then testifed before the hearing. He agreed with Mr. Sullivan in stating "I see neglect a whole lot more than I do abuse" and that he was worried about "unintended consequences." His testimony then moved to the issue of sterilization. Mr. Ward is considering drafting a comprehensive reform of laws governing animal cruelty and similar issues such as sterilization. A discussion was then held on whether the state should mandate sterilization in shelters and if so, when should said sterilization occur. There was very little disagreement among anyone on this subject as everyone clearly recognized the need to control the small animal population. It was also clear the Humane Society has also had substantial contact with the committee on this particular issue and is working with it to craft a solution in any proposed legislation.

Mr. Ward stated he wanted the draft of the proposed bill for the next hearing in a few weeks. He then addressed the failure of SB#2791 to make it out of committee in March:
"The main reason that legislation was not brought forward last year was not because anybody was opposed to it," Ward said. "It was because I did not feel like--and I take the responsibility--there had not been enough research or hearing done on this issue."

Mr. Ward also mentioned the question of Farm Bureau's influence: ""The Farm Bureau or no other organization, even myself, has the power to overrule my committee," he says. "Over the past three years we have not presented a bill to the house we have lost. It's not my intention to bring one to the house floor that's gonna fail."

Earlier posts:
Columbus Packet article on Farm Bureau breakfast and several comments by legislators on animal cruelty bill