Animal Cruelty In Idaho Needs To Be A Felony

Like most animal owners after hearing about the attempted dog poisoning in Eagle a few days ago I was furious. If you haven't read about it yet, KTVB did a good job covering the story.

Last Thursday Jacque Gilliam found a hot dog bun stuffed with pills and peanut butter in her backyard, while she was outside with her dog. It is a miracle her dog wasn't devouring the poisonous peanut butter and pills. Just the fact that someone would put so much effort into hurting an animal boggles my mind. There is no reason for this, ever.

This horrible act was intentional and the Ada County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating. The pills have already been sent to a lab to find out exactly what they are.

It is interesting that last year in Gilliam's neighborhood she saw a neighbor try to feed another dog a hamburger. At that time the dog wasn't interested in the burger, which is great. You shouldn't ever approach a dog and randomly start feeding them.

Currently, animal cruelty in Idaho is a misdemeanor charge unless you have a history of animal abuse which could bump that up to a felony. But really, if you're knowing hurting an animal that cannot defend itself IT SHOULD BE AN AUTOMATIC FELONY. Period.

Personally, I have found kids throwing things in my back yard where my dogs play. Mostly it is candy wrappers or sticks tied together with shoe strings. But these seem to be things that aren't to hurt the dogs, just kids being kids. Let's just hope the people we have voted into office quickly address the issue of animal cruelty in the state of Idaho.