Animal Cruelty Laws in Arkansas need to change

Animal Cruelty Laws in Arkansas need to change

Target:
Governor Mike Beebe
Sponsored by: 
Currently in Arkansas any case of animal neglect, cruelty or abuse is considered only a misdemeanor. This sends a message to offenders that is acceptable to abuse any animal because they will not be harshly punished in this state. The number of abuse, neglect and cruelty cases seem to be on the rise, which would substantiate this claim. Please sign this pettition and let Arkansas law makers know the citizens of this great state are fed up and ready for a positive change. Listed below is the current Arkansas Law statute for animal cruelty, neglect or abuse.


A person commits a misdemeanor if he or she knowingly abandons any animal, subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment, subjects any animal in his or her custody to cruel neglect, kills or injures any animal belonging to another without legal privilege or consent of the owner.  In addition to all other penalties provided by law, the court may order any person found guilty of cruelty to animals to receive a psychiatric or psychological evaluation and counseling or treatment.  "Animal" or "dumb animal" includes every living creature.  The section also discusses arrest and impoundment procedures, specifically stating that any officer, agent, or member of a society which is incorporated for the prevention of cruelty to animals may lawfully interfere to prevent the perpetration of any act of cruelty upon any animal in his presence.  Arkansas law also prohibits dog fighting, the dying of baby chicks, and unlawful bear exploitation.
Currently in Arkansas any case of animal neglect, cruelty or abuse is considered only a misdemeanor. This sends a message to offenders that is acceptable to abuse any animal because they will not be harshly punished in this state. The number of abuse, neglect and cruelty cases seem to be on the rise, which would substantiate this claim. Please sign this pettition and let Arkansas law makers know the citizens of this great state are fed up and ready for a positive change. Listed below is the current Arkansas Law statute for animal cruelty, neglect or abuse.


A person commits a misdemeanor if he or she knowingly abandons any animal, subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment, subjects any animal in his or her custody to cruel neglect, kills or injures any animal belonging to another without legal privilege or consent of the owner.  In addition to all other penalties provided by law, the court may order any person found guilty of cruelty to animals to receive a psychiatric or psychological evaluation and counseling or treatment.  "Animal" or "dumb animal" includes every living creature.  The section also discusses arrest and impoundment procedures, specifically stating that any officer, agent, or member of a society which is incorporated for the prevention of cruelty to animals may lawfully interfere to prevent the perpetration of any act of cruelty upon any animal in his presence.  Arkansas law also prohibits dog fighting, the dying of baby chicks, and unlawful bear exploitation.
We the undersigned, are coming to you with a plea for help in a very serious matter. As I'm sure you are already aware, Arkansas law  considers any act of abuse, neglect or cruelty, only a misdemeanor offense. We strongly believe that this sends a message to the offenders, that it is perfectly acceptable to treat any animal cruelly. Animals are a precious gift and should be regarded as such. When people acquire animals they also acquire a number of responsibilites and they should be held accountable when they neglect those . Please help us help the ones who cannot physically speak against these injustices. 
 Thank you for taking the time to read this petition and taking our plight into consideration.
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We signed the "Animal Cruelty Laws in Arkansas need to change" petition!
# 308:
5:05 pm PDT, Mar 27, Glyn Priestman, Pennsylvania
# 307:
9:41 pm PDT, Mar 25, Lori Hoadley, Ohio
# 306:
7:27 am PDT, Mar 23, Dale York, Arkansas
do not kill the geese
# 305:
9:39 am PDT, Mar 19, Name not displayed, Arkansas
# 304:
4:32 pm PDT, Mar 10, Jennifer Gordon, North Carolina
Please also sign our petition at www.savegeese.com to help stop needless killing of Canada Geese in Arkansas
# 303:
7:07 am PDT, Mar 10, Deanna Epps, North Carolina
# 302:
9:29 pm PDT, Mar 9, Sharon Pawlak, New Jersey
Ethically and morally, it is incumbent upon all Federal and State lawmakers to recognize the seriousness of animal abuse and act accordingly. Cruel and inhumane acts against animals must be deemed a felony, requiring that all those found guilty be punished to the fullest extent of the law, including anger management and psychological counseling.

Yes, I love animals and want to see them treated fairly with understanding and utmost compassion.

# 301:
7:51 pm PDT, Mar 9, Erin Monagan, New York
# 300:
6:55 pm PDT, Mar 9, Nancy Lodzinski, Arkansas
All animals need to be treated fairly, and with respect. Stop animal abuse, stop the killing of the Canada geese in Bella Vista, Arkansas and everywhere. Why must we use and destroy what God has given us to enjoy?
# 299:
6:36 pm PDT, Mar 9, Barbara Kretschmer, New York
It has been proven that animal abuse and human abuse are directly related. Leniency in animal cruelty and abuse laws only helps promotes human abuse and makes it more likely to take place. If you cannot take a stronger approach simply for the sake of our cherished "friends," do it for the sake of humanity!

Yes! Let's teach our children to respect all life and enable them to create a better future for all!

# 298:
12:14 pm PST, Feb 23, Martha Williams, Arkansas
Please help by signing. Persons who have animals and do not take care of them properly, don't need them. Animals need to be spayed or neutered. This will keep down the population of unwanted animals. Our animal shelter are FULL and OVERRUN and most are pregant females that are not wanted as they are fixing to deliver. I can not count on how many times I have been at our local Wal-Mart stores and saw people giving away, puppies and kittens that they either can't feed or can't find homes for by any other means. This is so sad. If I could I would take them all, but I can not. Help is needed in this.

I love animals and I want to help save those that can be saved. Some can not due to severe illnesses. I want to help in any way I can. Will you help??

# 297:
8:07 am PST, Feb 16, Sue Hawkins, Canada
# 296:
10:44 pm PST, Feb 13, Monty Payne, Arkansas
animals should be treated the same as humans.

yes i love animals and all animals are gods living creatures and it is or job to take care of them so lets get busy and do our job.

# 295:
1:49 pm PST, Jan 28, Fo;igal Mc loigal, Japan
# 294:
10:15 pm PST, Jan 26, Arnaud Hussard, France
# 293:
11:29 am PST, Jan 26, Mireille Azouzou, France
# 292:
4:01 am PST, Jan 26, Raymonde Paneels, Belgium
# 291:
2:02 am PST, Jan 26, Geneviève Pieroni, France
# 290:
1:46 am PST, Jan 26, Jean-damien SUSINI, France
# 289:
12:00 am PST, Jan 23, Maya Puerta, France
# 288:
5:16 am PST, Jan 22, Nicolas BELLEUDY, France
# 287:
10:38 pm PST, Jan 21, Michele Quintric, France
# 286:
1:31 pm PST, Jan 20, Germain Puerta, France
# 285:
2:59 am PST, Jan 20, Severine Stockling,, France
# 284:
10:41 am PST, Jan 15, S. Andregg, California
# 283:
6:01 am PST, Jan 10, Arlena Morton, Indiana
# 282:
3:36 pm PST, Jan 6, James BeVier, Arkansas
# 281:
4:18 am PST, Dec 28, Jake Rosales, Australia
# 280:
11:25 am PST, Dec 22, Sharon Jessup, Arkansas
Please make laws that protect animals from being neglected and abused and if such neglect or abuse happens that the persons are held reponsibile for it and are fined and serve a sentence. I have currently called our local city hall about a neglect case that is going on behind our business and can not get any help. It's is very discouraging to try to do the right thing and not get any response. You have to make the law where all uniformed persons are responsible for helping under these circumstances or no one wants to take any action especially in these small towns.
# 279:
11:20 am PST, Dec 13, Glenda Fortenbury-Grimmett, Arkansas
You can tell a lot about a man, or even a nation, by how they treat their animal companions. Please, help prevent this senseless killing, cruelty, suffering & neglect.
# 278:
1:13 pm PST, Dec 12, Diana Soares, Portugal
# 277:
10:41 am PST, Dec 11, Liz Johnson, Texas
I don't live in Arkansas, but as your neighbor I am very concerned about the lack of animal cruelty laws in your state. These things do cross over borders, after all. Please enact stiffer penalties for animal cruelty!
# 276:
3:15 pm PST, Dec 10, Cathy DuBois, Wisconsin
Animal abuse needs to be see as at least a felony! Look around and see how these animals are being skinned alive, burned alive, mouths taped shut so they starve and then beaten with their only release being death or help from a caring rescuer. Imagine what these animal abusers would do to people, they have no empathy at all. There is NO excuse for abuse!
# 275:
4:13 am PST, Dec 7, Octavian Paul Draja, Romania
# 274:
11:05 am PST, Dec 4, Lisa Lewis, North Carolina
# 273:
2:41 am PST, Dec 2, Elisabeth Karcher, France
# 272:
3:47 pm PST, Nov 30, Anne Voloshin, Connecticut
# 271:
7:54 pm PST, Nov 29, Sophie Szeferowicz, France
Please!
# 270:
7:43 am PST, Nov 25, Sonja Nielsen, Denmark
Animal cruelty should be considered a serious crime..
# 269:
8:28 am PST, Nov 24, Carin Myrberg, Sweden
Animal abuse must be regarded as a felony. The Arkansas animal cruelty laws must become harsher.

I love all animals and want to see them treated fairly.

# 268:
5:46 pm PST, Nov 23, Carri Dodge, Tennessee
# 267:
7:51 pm PST, Nov 16, Phyllis Potapov, Arkansas
# 266:
7:11 am PST, Nov 16, Mariska Catsman-Okkersen, Netherlands
# 265:
10:10 am PST, Nov 15, Lindsey Sanders, Tennessee
# 264:
11:53 pm PST, Nov 12, Jasmin Rosales, Australia
# 263:
12:43 am PST, Nov 12, Hendrata Loekman, Indonesia
Please help all of those around the world who believe in this cause. Even if you are not from Arkansas, sign the petition and forward it to someone who is willing to do the right thing.

Do you love animals and want to see them treated fairly?

# 262:
12:59 pm PST, Nov 11, Stephanie Humphries, Virginia
# 261:
4:21 pm PST, Nov 9, Anne-Christine CAILLEUX, France
I deeply love animals,who are always sincere and only ask for love. And even if I did not love,I will always respect them and so I think it's necessary that laws are voted to protect them.
# 260:
3:02 am PST, Nov 9, Liliane Keil, Belgium
# 259:
10:19 am PST, Nov 8, Amy Samons, Arkansas
I maybe from Arkansas , but it is about time to have a felony law for animal abuse.

I love animals, I even adopted a stray cat that means every thing to me.

# 258:
4:44 am PST, Nov 8, Nuntanit Bumrungsap, Thailand
Please help all of those around the world who believe in this cause. Even if you are not from Arkansas, sign the petition and forward it to someone who is willing to do the right thing.

Do you love animals and want to see them treated fairly?

# 257:
2:14 pm PST, Nov 7, Pamela Liang, New York
# 256:
7:36 am PST, Nov 3, Samantha Capozzolo, New York
Anaimal Cruelty is wrong in every way. No matter how small or big, there should be punishment. If you can hurt an animal, you can hurt a human. I am working in college to be able to change these laws as my career. I am going to work my whole life to enforce harsher punishment and give these innocent animals what they deserve!

Sincerely Samy. Hopefully youll see me soon all over the place fighting for laws and in the court houses making a difference!

# 255:
7:32 am PST, Nov 3, John Thaden, Arkansas
Dear Governor Beebe, Please throw your weight behind the right felony animal cruelty bill in 2009, as there will certainly be at least one out there that won't really let law enforcement agencies be effective against those who would act with true malevolence against horses, dogs and cats. We need your reassuring voice to counter the scare scenario put forth by the Farm Bureau. None of the good laws proposed in the last decade would have posed any kind of problem to those whose livelihood is animal husbandry in this state -- that has been a promulgated myth -- and neither will the 2009 bill supported, e.g., by the Humane Society of Pulaski County. Sincerely, John Thaden, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor of Geriatrics University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock
# 254:
4:02 pm PST, Nov 2, Sexy Princess, Nevada
# 253:
12:18 am PDT, Nov 1, MARY MARTONY, Pennsylvania
# 252:
12:17 am PDT, Nov 1, LINDSAY ONDREY, Pennsylvania
# 251:
12:15 am PDT, Nov 1, AMBER SPARKS, Pennsylvania
THATS LIKE SAYING ITS OKAY!!!
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