2000 Republicans in the Iowa Legislature this week endorsed a bill banning animal torture in the State of Iowa. The bill will make the crime of sadistic torture of an animal a Class D felony on the second offense, which carries a five-year prison penalty.
Current law makes it an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries only a two-year penalty.
This bill gives Iowa one of the toughest laws in the country. Iowa will be one of just a few states in the country to require mandatory counseling for both first and second offenses of extreme animal mistreatment. The bill also protects the interests of farmers, hunters, and other sportsmen from arbitrary prosecutions and defines the torture of animals which outrages farmers, hunters, and sportsmen as much as anyone. Some people would like to see a felony conviction on the first offense . But Iowans believe in proportionality in sentencing, and some serious crimes committed against people are not felonies.