NY animal advocates push tougher cruelty laws as April marks animal abuse prevention month

Record ID: 1988276

  • Title: NY animal advocates push tougher cruelty laws as April marks animal abuse prevention month
  • Date: 4th April 2025
  • Summary: BLACKWOOD, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES (FILE - FEBRUARY 1, 2024) (REUTERS) ORANGE CAT REACHING OUT THROUGH CAGE AT HOMEWARD BOUND PET ADOPTION CENTER CAT WITH ONE EYE AT HOMEWARD BOUND PET ADOPTION CENTER BLIND CAT AT HOMEWARD BOUND PET ADOPTION CENTER PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 30, 2023) (REUTERS) TWO KITTENS WITH TREATS IN FRONT OF THEM AT THE ARIZONA H
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: AMC ASPCA Animal Cruelty Prevention Month Schwarzman cats dogs
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA002404403042025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In a quiet room at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center (AMC) in Manhattan, a stray cat named Betty lies curled up, her neck wrapped in a protective cone. She’s among the many animals receiving medical care after suffering trauma - some from illness, others from abuse.
    April marks Animal Cruelty Prevention Month, and advocates, veterinarians and lawmakers spotlight both the vulnerability of animals and the growing legal efforts to protect them.
    "I don't understand how animals can be treated cruelly because they're innocent," said Shawn Takada, a senior licensed veterinary technician at AMC. "They give you unconditional love. I think anybody that doesn't like an animal or can be cruel to an animal is not a good person. Obviously, there are people that are cruel to children, there's going to be cruel animals or there are people that are just, I guess, demons in human form."
    Takada said some of the animals that have come in have broken bones, others internal injuries.
    "They say, 'Oh, my dog's leg is broken. I don't know what happened,'" she said. "And we eventually find out that actually the owner has broken the leg or the cat has jumped out or has been thrown out a window."
    Dr. Ann Marie Zollo, a senior veterinarian in emergency and critical care at the center, said cruelty cases are steady.
    "Right now in the ICU, we have one cruelty case and that’s pretty standard for us," she said. "Fortunately, we never have multiple at once for the most part, which is great because obviously, even though we want to help these animals, we don't want animals to have to experience this in the first place. But it's a pretty steady number in terms of how many we see at any given time."
    Zollo said veterinary teams often act as first responders. If a pet presents with suspicious injuries, staff notify police, who then investigate.
    "Our role in preventing and treating animals with cruelty, it's kind of two-fold: so animals will present to the emergency room and sometimes you might have suspicion of some sort of animal cruelty, and it's our job to report that to the police, not necessarily to investigate, but if we have a suspicion, we will call the police so that they can take it from there and do their job to be able to investigate whether or not it is, in fact, a cruelty case," she said.
    "It's very similar to people, cruelty injuries can include lung injuries, traumatic brain injury, broken bones, internal bleeding and things like that, and it can really run a full range," Zollo continued. "But we're very fortunate that when we treat them here, we have many different services and everyone in one building who can treat them. And what we usually do is take care of them when they're more critically ill, and then once we get them to a more stable place, then we usually transfer them to the ASPCA for continued care and hopefully either rehoming or reuniting with their family."
    The New York State Assembly passed legislation in early April to include felony animal cruelty in the state’s red flag law, which allows courts to temporarily restrict firearm access for individuals deemed dangerous.
    "A person with a history of abusing animals is likely to eventually turn that violence toward humans," said Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. "By amending our red flag laws, we will enable judges to consider recent acts of violence against animals when assessing if a person is a threat to themselves or others and should have their access to firearms limited."
    Research cited by Rosenthal and others draws a connection between cruelty to animals and violent crimes. One study from the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University found that animal abusers are five times more likely to harm humans.
    Republican State Senator James Tedisco, a longtime advocate for animal welfare, has also introduced a series of bills to strengthen penalties for abuse and require psychiatric evaluations for convicted offenders.
    "Violence against animals is a bridge crime," he said in a press release, citing a 1999 case that led to the state’s original felony cruelty law, known as Buster’s Law.
    According to the ASPCA, cruelty can take many forms - from untreated wounds and embedded collars, to pets left outdoors in extreme conditions or confined without food and water. In New York City, residents can report suspected abuse by calling 311; elsewhere, reports should go to local animal control or police.
    While April calls attention to abuse prevention, work continues year-round. At the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center - which recently completed a new intensive care unit and is expanding further this year - staff see their mission as both clinical and compassionate.
    "Animals are very similar to children," Zollo said. "They are super innocent and don't really have much of a choice in their life circumstances. So this is something that we never want to see because it's something that can be very hard for them to escape. But if it does happen to have happened to an animal, we are very grateful that we can be part of their recovery and hopefully get them into a better home."
    (Production: Roselle Chen)
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