Iowa Senate targets pet mistreatment

DES MOINES - The Iowa Senate voted Thursday to toughen penalties for people who mistreat pets or animals, but opponents worried the measure might create a future opening for animal-rights activists to expand the bill's scope to include livestock and wild game not covered by the bill.

Senate File 2289, which passed on a 32-16 vote, amends current state law pertaining to the mistreatment of companion animals by creating new criminal offenses dealing with animal neglect, torture, abandonment and endangerment, said Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, the bill's floor manager.

The charges and penalties are enhanced if an adult commits any of the offenses in the presence of a juvenile or has been previously convicted of animal cruelty in Iowa or other states. Juveniles who commit a first animal-related offense will have to undergo counseling, as would adults at a judge's discretion.

'I think we've got a reasonable bill,” said Bisignano, who repeatedly stressed that the measure specifically excludes livestock, wild game, fur-bearing animals, fish and other species.

Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, one of 16 GOP senators who voted against passage, said he supported efforts to stop people from neglecting or abandoning animals, but he expressed concern the measure was being backed by 'elements” that are very subtle, smart and well-financed.

'I probably will be voting against this, although I absolutely understand exactly the need for many of these things,” Shipley said. 'I've often thought that as people mistreat animals that the same thing should be done to them that they've done to that animal … and see how they like it. But I think I'm just afraid that this is what they used to call the camel's nose under the tent and so, for that reason, I will probably be voting against it.”

In other action Thursday, senators voted 48-0 to make confidential court records for juveniles for offenses below the threshold of forcible felonies. Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said Senate File 2288 was the product of a compromise of balancing the best interests of minors with the public's right to know.

'Today, mistakes made as juveniles never go away and can weigh our kids down for the rest of their lives, affecting every aspect of their lives from getting into college to finding a job,” Petersen said.

Currently, court records alleging juvenile delinquency are available to the public unless a judge grants a request to make them confidential or have them sealed. The Senate bill would allow judicial requests to have confidential records made public.