Comments on: Virginia Politician Proposes Bill To Make Punishment For Stealing Dogs And Cats Same

By: dexter

dexter — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:16:17 +0000

if they find a cat that belongs to them on someone else’s property then they should ask for it back and not get charged for the cats desition

By: The Lioness

The Lioness — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:01:25 +0000

This has the potential to be a good law, but they will need to define what is “feral.” I would also hate to see feral tenders penalized for helping these unfortunate cats.

It’s good it’s even on the table, though.

~The Lioness

By: Colby

Colby — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:58:10 +0000

My mother loves her cats more than her dog. I think she’d go crazy if she heard they weren’t being treated equally.

I wonder if the difference in penalties is because an outdoor cat usually wonders the entire neighborhood while an outdoor dog generally stays in his owners yard. When I was a kid we had two outdoor cats that would solicit food from several of our neighbors.

I do agree that we can get attached to any pet no matter what type of animal it is and therefore punishments should be the same for cats, dogs, or any stolen pet.

By: Lis

Lis — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:10:58 +0000

Kaefamily, I don’t know the specifics of CA law, but that sounds exactly backwards. It’s cats, not dogs, that are often treated in the law as wild animals.

Obviously we don’t want people who feed or rescue ferals to be treated as thieves, but it ought to be possible to distinguish between feeding free-roaming cats, and intentionally stealing an animal you know belongs to someone else. Whether or not Delegate McClellan’s law does that in its current form, I have no idea.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:54:31 +0000

Yup! Thats got to change. If some one stole my cats I would want them to do more than a year.

People consider their pets as family and I don’t see the difference between a dog or a cat. They are both considered family.

By: kaefamily

kaefamily — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:21:56 +0000

I don’t know for certain but I have been told that in CA if one drives over a cat the law requires the driver to stop and assist or go to jail; not in case of a dog because dogs are considered wild animals. Can anyone verify this?

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:37:32 +0000

Course, the cynic in me says “oh, they’ll make it equal alright. they’ll just lower the dog to match the cat.”.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:14:47 +0000

Seems to me the penalty for stealing a pet should be the same regardless of the breed. Someone could be just as attached to their iguana as I am to my dogs. (Hard to imagine, but possible!) :)