What is animal Cruelty? Animal cruelty crimes generally fit into one of four categories; intentional cruelty, neglect, animal fighting and animal hoarding.
Intentional cruelty or abuse When a person knowingly deprives an animal of food, water, shelter, socialization, or veterinary care or maliciously tortures, maims, mutilates, or kills an animal. People who are intentionally cruel to animals take satisfaction in causing harm. Animal fighting would fall under intentional cruelty.
Neglect The failure to provide an animal with proper shelter, food, water, attention, grooming or veterinary care. Cases of neglect are acts of omission rather than commission and do not give satisfaction to the person whose animals are neglected. Animal fighting (dog fighting and cockfighting) When two or more specially bred and trained animals are placed in an enclosure to fight, for the primary purposes of gambling and entertainment. Animal fights usually result in the death of one of the animals; sometimes it ends in the death of both. Animal hoarding, the accumulation of a large number of animals, where the caregiver provides minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care; and fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals and/or the environment. What do I do if I witness animal cruelty? If you witness animal abuse or neglect, please contact The Humane Society of Yuma at 928-782-1621. The Humane Society of Yuma has the authority to enforce state and local laws related to animals and the capability to investigate and resolve these situations. We rely on concerned citizens to be our eyes and ears in the community and to report animal suffering. You can choose to remain anonymous, although giving your name to the humane society will enable us to follow up with you when necessary. Our humane officers are on call 24 hours for animals that are suffering. If you call after hours please be sure to leave a detailed message with the answering service. An animal control officer will contact you shortly. Our dedicated agency has the important job of ensuring that animals in our jurisdiction receive proper food, water, and shelter, and are protected from abandonment and cruel treatment. The prevention of cruelty to animals represents the core mission of our Humane Society. Investigation requests can come from members of the community or other law enforcement agencies. If an animal is in imminent danger call the local law enforcement (i.e. YPD, YCSO)
TIPS FOR REPORTING ANIMAL CRUELTY
Once you have found out which law enforcement agent you should speak to, it’s important to provide him or her with a concise, written, factual statement of what you observed, giving dates and approximate times whenever possible. If at all feasible, try to photograph the abusive situation and date your pictures. It would also be helpful to get short, factual written statements from other witnesses.
When you call to report animal cruelty, always make sure to keep a careful record of exactly whom you contact, the date of the contacts and the content and outcome of your discussion. Never give away a document without making a copy for your file! Make it clear to the agent that you are very interested in pursuing the case, and that you are willing to lend whatever assistance you can. FOLLOW UP IF NECESSARY
If you don’t receive a response from the officer assigned to your case within a reasonable length of time, don’t be afraid to present your information to his or her supervisor and, if necessary, to local government officials, such as the county commissioner, and ask them to act. If you have witnessed the cruel act yourself, you can go to your local police commissioner and ask to swear out a warrant to summon the accused person to court. Remember that expert witnesses are sometimes necessary in animal cruelty cases. A veterinarian, for example, can sign a statement that it is his or her “expert opinion” that a dog suffers when hit with a chain, is deprived of food, etc. Expert opinions will very often make or break a case, so if you happen to know a sympathetic veterinarian, you may wish to seek his or her assistance and tell the officer that you have expert support lined up for your case. |
