Hattiesburg animal rights activists rally in Jackson

HATTIESBURG, Miss - A group of Hattiesburg animal rights activists are rallying their support for the Senate Bill 2174 (SB2174) in Jackson.

SB2174 states:

"To create a first-offense felony of aggravated abuse of a dog or cat, to enact definitions, to limite the number of counts that can be charged arising from a single incident, to require that reporting of all offenses against dogs or cats will conform to FBI reporting guidelines, and for related purposes."

The rally is an annual event to increase public awareness of animal cruelty, support law enforcement who enforce the animal cruelty law, and demonstrate to the legislature that the public wants stronger animal cruelty laws for Mississippi.

Valerie Rachal, local Mississippi Animal Advocacy Group (MS-AAG) says, “While we’re asking for a number of improvements to the current law, in particular we want to see a first-offense felony provision added for cases of intentional cruelty with malice such as torture, mutilating, maiming, or burning, a dog or cat. We also believe that the law should include multiple counts for multiple animals – it only makes sense that abusing 100 animals should carry a stiffer penalty than abusing one animal.”

According to a press release, the MS-AAG is attending the rally to visually demonstrate to the Mississippi legislature that the public is calling on them to stand up to the state’s powerful agricultural groups that oppose any laws protecting animals. Dogs and cats are not farm animals and deserve better protection from cruelty than the current law provides.