[image-1]Starting today, with Goddard’s Law going into effect, it’s now a fifth-degree felony to “cause serious physical harm to a companion animal.” That’s something worth applauding, because for years sadistic chumps skated on misdemeanor charges — or no animal cruelty charges at all. 

The law is named after Northeast Ohio’s animal champion, Dick Goddard. He’s pushed for legislation like this for a very long time. 

As Goddard’s own Fox 8 reports, this includes “depriving a pet of food, water or shelter or inflicting long-term pain.”

This article appears in Sep 7-13, 2016.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

5 replies on “It’s Now (Finally) a Felony to Harm a Pet in Ohio”

  1. A copy of this story needs to be emailed to the Governor’s Office in Kentucky……where a case of 43 starving and abused horses has shown flaws in that state’s laws. Since the court is dealing with 43 misdemeanors, the Breeders’ Cup winning trainer linked to the farm – and who fled the state – cannot be extradited to face the charges if/when she comes out of hiding.

  3. “Harm” is a completely subjective term. All laws *should* be objective (and objectively justifiable). Individuals must know clearly, and in advance of taking an action, what the law forbids them to do (and why), what constitutes a crime and what penalty they will incur if they commit it. No good will come of this new law.

  4. I am happy to see this law finally go into effect in my home state of Ohio but hope it continues to pass as a law in every other state, too many people get away with treating their pets horrible. I think the first phase of punishment for these cruel people should be to put them in the deplorable conditions they left their animals in…(tied out in the blistering heat with no food, water or shelter ect..,whatever the conditions they put them in, for however long they left them in!) and then after that prosecuted to the fullest the law will allow and ban them from ever being able to own another pet ever again! Hopefully more states will follow in adopting this law and the punishments get harsher.

  5. I saw in a previous comment sayingsonething about the criminal needs to know what exactly is the law. It should be any kind of harm, I’ll treatment, deprivation, abuse, neglect of any ANIMAL. Idk how one could treat any living creatures with ill treatment. I can’t even hurt a spider or ant without feeling bad.

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