Peace, Love, & Real Talk

#fakenews

Editorial by Alicia Williams, Founder of Eunoia Rescue

“Animal cruelty now a felony offense” – it’s a headline I’ve been seeing a lot of lately. Sure, this seems like a great step forward and the idea of it is completely appropriate. However, does this law really “mean” anything? In my opinion, the answer to this question is no. For example, Donna Lee of Florence, SC was running a commercial breeding ring (a.k.a. puppy mill). About 133 animals were seized from horrid living conditions. All animals were filthy and were never socialized with humans. During the seizure process, about 40 more animals were born. There were about a dozen deaths.

Vet bills to bring the animals back to health exceeded $100,000. At first, the judge wanted to dismiss the case because Lee is “an old woman” but as the case continued, it seemed like justice would be served. Lee was charged with 39 felony counts (the most in South Carolina history), but plead down to 3 counts. Her sentence is 3 years under suspension with probation. During this time she isn’t allowed to own animals or participate in the breeding business. She was ordered to pay $35,000 restitution over a span of 3 years. That’s it. No hard jail time. She’s hardly being monitored to see if she’s obeying the rules of probation.

Some animals that were seized are still available for adoption because they are so emotionally traumatized. Some animals that were seized live with illnesses that they will have for the rest of their life. To date, Lee has paid a whopping $100 to Valiant Animal Rescue and Relief towards her restitution. The Donna Lee case is just one example of how animal abusers aren’t being held accountable. Another example is a cruelty case involving a Berkeley County man who admitted to beating his Great Dane with a pot until the pot bent. The dog passed away while in foster care and before his owner, Trey Phillips, would have his day in court. Originally arrested on felony animal cruelty which could yield a 5 year prison term, Trey plead down to a misdemeanor charge and sentenced to 30 days of which he served 21 days. His attorney portrayed him a good person who made a mistake. Shortly after he was released from jail, Trey got another dog and posted about him on social media. He was not given a no animal order as a part of his sentence. He also did not have to pay any restitution for the medical bills for his Great Dane which was over $1500.

Generally speaking, local governments and law enforcement agencies do not budget for animal cruelty investigations. In most cases, offenders are given plea deals rather than spending time and money to prosecute the crimes to the full extent of the law. While changing laws to make animal cruelty more serious certainly seems progressive, it becomes a moot point if the local government doesn’t follow through. Enough is enough. Let’s stop celebrating laws that simply instruct us to be decent human beings and start demanding discipline for those who disobey.

Donna Lee of Florence, SC

Michelle Reid of Valiant Animal Rescue with Rico, the Great Dane who suffered abuse at the hands of Trey Phillips of Goose Creek, SC

If you would like to help animals that suffer from abuse, please donate at valiantanimalrescue.org