TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — It's an unfortunate story that we sadly hear too often; reports of animal cruelty and abuse.
In the last month, we've reported on multiple cases. The most recent one: a Polk County nurse accused of fatally poisoning her neighbor's two cats and pregnant dog.
In Polk County, Sheriff Grady Judd said there's a team at the ready to investigate those types of cases.
"For those in the community that may not know, we have two full-time people, plus our AG detectives, that work animal cruelty cases," he said in a press conference surrounding the fatal poisoning case.
Law enforcement officers like the ones in Polk County are there to hold offenders accountable.
In the meantime, there are places like the Humane Society of Tampa Bay that are there to pick up the pieces for many other animals.
Sherry Silk, the CEO of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, says their team works hard to protect the animal community.
"Not only do we adopt 12,000 homeless animals every year, which is, I think, a really big number. But we also have programs to try to help people keep their pets in the last year or two when the economy's been like a roller coaster," said Silk.
Now there's a legislative proposal that could add yet another layer of support.
SB 272 and HB 297 would appoint a courtroom animal advocate for criminal cases involving cats and dogs.
Florida Representative Berny Jacques from Pinellas County is one of the lawmakers behind the push.
"The catalyst for me is several years ago, actually, when I was still a candidate before I got elected, I was reading in the Florida Bar magazine about Desmond's Law. So this is being modeled after something that occurred in Connecticut," he said. "So Desmond's Law came about when a dog was just horribly tortured, strangled, and that defendant only got a light sentence, a slap on the wrist that was even able to be expunged from his record."
Representative Jacques said his interest in animal rights predates that story, however.
"I would say the original original interest in animal welfare started in law school. We all have to take a seminar class at Stetson Law, and I chose animal law. And so I started learning about the correlations between animal abuse that will eventually lead and potentially lead to abuse towards humans, whether it's spousal abuse, whether it's abuse on children and more violent criminal activity," he added.
Under the bill, any law student or attorney with a background in animal law can volunteer to be an advocate. Meaning all of this work comes free of charge. Those attorneys would monitor the cases, review records, talk to witnesses, attend hearings, and more.
"Sometimes there's those that may not rise to the level of as shocking as some of the worst case scenarios, but it's still a case of abuse. These types of cases are where it's really going to help because then the animal advocate can say and convey to the court why it's important to still pursue these cases and why it's important to give some kind of sanctions and not the typical slap on the wrist," Representative Jacques added.
The proposal will be heard during the 2024 Legislative Session. If passed, it would go into effect July 1, 2024.
