The following article, which calls for laws making animal cruelty a felony, presents a great opportunity for supportive letters to the editor. Please write.
The Kansas City Star takes letters at letters@kcstar.com, and advises, "Please include name, address and daytime phone number. Letters will be edited for length and clarity and may be published by The Star electronically."
The piece includes information on a petition you can sign in favor of tougher animal cruelty laws.
Here is the piece:
The Kansas City Star
Monday, October 24
Pg. B1
In Kansas, pets need protection;
COMMENTARY
To make a living, Lee Brand lovingly takes care of other people's pets.
So naturally she was horrified to recently witness someone beating a dog on an apartment balcony.
The man kicked and punched the animal so hard that Brand called police, and only then did she learn something that shocked her even more.
"In the state of Kansas, an individual may beat, mutilate and even kill a dog or cat and receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist," Brand said. "This is pathetic for a state that is supposedly located in the Bible Belt."
I'm not sure what the Bible Belt has to do with it exactly, but she's right about the rest.
Kansas' animal cruelty law is woefully inadequate.
Beat, torture or kill an animal in the Sunflower State and the worst you can be charged with is a misdemeanor under the animal cruelty statute. Whereas in Missouri and 40 other states, a felony charge can be lodged in certain circumstances.
Why is Kansas so lax?
Well, perhaps you've noticed that I sometimes refer to that gang over in Topeka as the do-nothing Kansas Legislature.
Here's another perfect example.
Lawmakers have talked and talked for years about this issue and haven't passed a tough animal cruelty law.
The discussion grew out of a heart-wrenching case from Kansas City, Kan., in 1997.
For entertainment, some sickos entertained themselves torturing a Yorkshire terrier named Scruffy. They beat the little dog to death with a shovel after setting the animal afire, and the whole gruesome scene was captured on videotape.
The Scruffy killing pointed up the shortcomings in Kansas law. Only because they were charged with arson did the men involved get significant time in prison. This is because the maximum sentence under the existing animal cruelty statute is one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
That hasn't changed. Sen. David Haley, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kan., tried for years to pass a bill that would make some instances of animal cruelty a felony.
But Haley's bills were shot down, in part because of concerns from farming interests that the language in the bill was too broad.
However, publicity over an animal cruelty case out of Wichita has revived interest in Topeka. One of Haley's senate colleagues, Republican Phil Journey of Haysville, is pushing a bill to make intentional animal cruelty a felony.
Considering past legislative performance, it's hard saying whether Journey's bill will get anywhere when the Legislature opens for business in January.
And that's where Brand comes in. She thinks the public needs to get involved.
On her own, without any sponsorship from any group, Brand recently began a petition drive in support of tougher animal cruelty laws. She's taking it around to friends, neighbors and veterinary clinics in Johnson County.
I suggested she might get more signatures if she could make it available on the Internet, but she doesn't know much about Web site design.
However, she does know that animals don't deserve to be mistreated the way they are sometimes.
"I still can see that night," Brand said, "when that jerk was beating his dog in my dreams."
To sign Lee Brand's petition, write her at P.O. Box 2624, Olathe, KS 66063or send e-mail to paws 4brand@yahoo.com
To reach Mike Hendricks, call (816) 234-7708 or send e-mail to mhendricks@kcstar.com
(END OF KANSAS CITY STAR PIECE.)
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Date: Tue Oct 25 13:29:14 2005
