JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, February 4, 2003 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - T he Wyoming House Monday gave preliminary approval to a bill that stiffens penalties for repeat animal abusers.
Nicknamed "Dexter's Bill,' in memory of a 3-year-old basset hound who was mutilated and killed in Torrington in early 2001, House Bill 113 increases the penalty for a second animal cruelty offense to a high misdemeanor punishable by not more than one year in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.
The bill makes a third or subsequent offense a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of $5,000, or both.
Current state law makes animal cruelty a misdemeanor punishable by no more than six months in jail, a $750 fine, or both.
A 20-year-old college student, Travis Wilson, admitted killing Dexter, his ex-girlfriend's dog, but denied mutilating the dog by cutting off its legs and burning the body.
Wilson was sentenced to eight months in jail on two separate counts of animal cruelty and one count of police interference. He also was sentenced to four to seven years in prison for felony burglary.
The case of Dexter and other incidents of animal abuse in the state prompted an outcry over tougher animal cruelty laws.
"Dexter deserves justice," Rep. George Bagby, D-Rawlins, said during debate on HB 113 Monday.
Bagby said that in domestic abuse cases innocent animals, like Dexter, suffer.
Rep. Bob Brechtel, R-Casper, opposed the bill on grounds the penalties were too extreme.
But Johnson pointed out the bill specifies that penalties are "up to" five years, for example, which gives judges flexibility in imposing sentences for animal cruelty.
Rep. Colin Simpson, R-Cody, said 37 other states have passed a felony animal cruelty law.
Simpson emphasized that HB 113 does not affect rodeo industry accepted practices with livestock or hunting.
"There have been a lot of questions whether activists could use this to do harm to our Wyoming way of life," Simpson said. "The answer is no."
He added that a link has been proven between animal cruelty and violence against humans.
In another animal abuse case, Gilbert Wozney of Powell was accused of trying to kill two dachshunds by hitting their heads with a hammer. One dog died and the other was injured. Wozney said the dogs' owner, his girlfriend, agreed to have the dogs put down, but it would have cost $20 each, according to published reports of the case.
In 2000, a six-person jury found Wozney not guilty.
A Laramie County man was accused of animal abuse after his horse suffocated after being strung up by a rope to a tree limb. The case was dismissed on a technicality.
Second bill
The Senate Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, is scheduled to hear a second animal cruelty bill on Tuesday, Senate File 125, sponsored by Sen. Irene Devin, R-Laramie.
Devin's bill keeps the current penalty of six months in jail, a $750 fine, or both, for a misdemeanor conviction of animal cruelty.
A second offense is a high misdemeanor punishable by not more than one year in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both.
If the animal dies as the result of animal cruelty, the penalty is more than five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.