Petition to Enact Felony Animal Cruelty Laws In the State of Mississippi

Petition Summary:  To establish laws against cruelty to any dog or cat; To establish the criteria from which a person who knowingly and with criminal negligence commits the act of cruelty to any dog or cat shall be charged; To establish the act of aggravated cruelty to animals; To establish that anyone guilty of an act of aggravated cruelty to animals shall be charged with a felony.

Background: Mississippi is one of only four states without a felony law for the worst acts of animal cruelty. The State Supreme Court ruled the current law (97-41-1) unconstitutional, so there is effectively no basic state cruelty law in Mississippi. Senator Gray Tollison, the chairman of the committee responsible for bringing the animal cruelty bill up for a floor vote, did not present the bill.

Action Petitioned:We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now to bring substantive felony animal cruelty laws to the State of Mississippi.