Legislative News: Bond & Forfeiture
by Sylvia Bagdonas
Senate Files 24 and 25: To Provide Financial Relief to Agencies Burdened with the Cost of Animal Abuse Cases
These bills would provide avenues for reimbursement of costs associated with animals that fall victim to cruelty and are lawfully seized by law enforcement. For too long animal control agencies and shelters in Wyoming have been burdened with the costs of this process. When animals are taken into custody they must be housed, fed and provided with veterinary care and most often it is the taxpayer and shelter donors that are forced to pay for these expensive costs, not the person committing the crime. Long-term cases can empty the accounts of shelters and prevent critical resources from going to other homeless, abused and at-risk animals. These bills’ amendments will help correct this situation.
When animals are seized, they remain the property of the person from whom they were seized until a court rules otherwise. Until the animals are legally forfeited, they cannot be placed in a new home. They are considered “live evidence” and must be retained until the conclusion of the legal proceedings. Unfortunately, the court system generally does not prioritize animal cruelty cases. Animal shelters are faced with a judicial system that too often takes months to hear an animal abuse case, and if prosecuted, even more months to sentence the abuser. All too often animals held as evidence in court cases for long periods of time suffer serious health and behavior deterioration–sometimes dying.
Senate Files 24 and 25 provide a process so that agencies seizing animals can receive money upfront for the cost of care or can adopt out the animals earlier if the owner does not follow a court order to cover the costs of care in custody. These bills cover companion animals or pets, and livestock, seized as evidence. Animal Control and Shelters in Wyoming will be able to recover the cost to care for animal(s) involved with the judicial system when the cases get pushed to the back burner. All too often these programs are asked to cover the cost of providing a service to government entities. These bills will save money, save lives, and allow animals to find forever homes sooner.
During 2020 committee meetings, testimony before the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Interim Committee provided examples of animal abuse cases considered by the courts and the ways animals suffer, and the poor outcomes in the court system. For example, the Cheyenne Animal Shelter experienced this situation, forced to hold animals for many months at their own expense waiting for court action. A man was charged with nine counts of animal cruelty for leaving a male and female hound in a pickup truck at a Cheyenne motel. The mother had seven puppies and her snout and back legs were duct-tape together so that she was forced to nurse. Seven months later the owner was found guilty of one count of animal cruelty for the treatment of the mother hound. His sentencing was two months later. The Shelter substantiated a cost of $78,000 for care of the nine hounds for the nine months they were held in the shelter. The Judge sentenced the owner to reclaim fees of $500, court costs, and gave him a civil judgment of restitution to the Cheyenne Animal Shelter for $7,800. The puppies grew up in the Shelter and they were not able to be spayed or neutered.
