Massachusetts animal abuse shows up in different forms

By Lexi Ostrow
12/10/10

Beginning in 1804, Massachusetts has enacted laws against animal abuse. The state has prosecuted 239 animal cruelty cases since the 1920's. Twenty-six cases occurred in areas near Boston, and 13 were inside the city itself.

Animal abuse can take many different forms, said Peter Gollub, law enforcement director at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA).  But animal abuse can be catagorized as either passive cruelty, which is different forms of neglect and active cruelty, which is beatings and other violent acts.

"The essence and ground zero of our work is investigating animal cruelty," said Gollub. His law enforcement group was founded in 1868. Gollub estimates that this year he has received around 2,500 calls reporting suspected abuse statewide. Of those, 200 were in Boston and 600 total guess for Boston and its surrounding areas.

" We do have more investigations in larger cities," said Gollub. But he speculated that could be due to the larger population in cities.

The MSPCA law enforcement investigates animal shelters, research labs, pet stores and pet owners.

When many people think of animal abuse, they conjure up images of animals beaten or bleeding. However, Gollub said that in Boston those cases are actually a small minority of the ones they investigate.

"I would anecdotally estimate that violent cases are 10 to 20 percent," said Gollub. Even though the rest are considered passive cruelty they still endanger the animal and are very serious.

"Neglect is much more prominent and needs to be as quickly reported," said Ryan Huling, of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "Most common complaint, especially in cold weather areas, is a dog left chained outside in the cold weather in a backyard for their whole life."

Gollub's MSPCA estimates generally confirm PETA's assertions. The most animal abuse include: neglect from failure to provide proper food, water or proper protection from the weather to unsanitary living environment and unnecessary suffering caused by lack of medical care.

In recent years, willful abandonment has been added to the list of top forms of abuse, possibly because of the recession, Gollub said.

Animal abuse is typically thought of as involving dogs and cats but it can occur to other animals, including wild animals.
 However, most cases tend involve more common pets. Gollub estimated that of cases in 2009:
         • 60 percent were dogs
         • 20 percent were cats
         • 8 percent were horses
         • And the rest are small animals including birds and rabbits

Animal hoarding is a rare but serious issue as well. Amanda Kennedy, director of the MSPCA shelter in Boston, said it recently took in 107 cats from a hoarder, but did not indicate a specific location.

People might think that animal hoarding requires a lot of living space to have animals in such large numbers. Gollub said that Boston does still have hoarders despite smaller living spaces because people can horde anything from hamsters to horses.

The state of Massachusetts has been active in enacting laws to punish animal abuse and to help protect animals. The state has 127 laws and subsections of laws relating to animals, of which 44 specifically address cruelty. Massachusetts is also one of 33 states to have breeding laws to help prevent puppy mills.

Recently, Boston passed an ordinance that bans devocalization of dogs and cats. There are currently 14 bills in the state being debated including an act regarding puppy mills and rabies vaccinations.

Since animal abuse is a felony in Massachusetts people can expected to be brought to trial and sentenced if they are caught in any act that results in animal abuse.

"Now if a person is convicted of animal cruelty the animal must be forfeited," Gollub said. He said this action is much safer for the animal involved and a provides a harsher punishment. This had made it much easier in recent cases to get the animal to safety, Gollub said.

Boston Police are now also capable of arresting people for animal abuse crimes. Gollub said the MSPCA has seen less cases in recent years but he thinks it is because now the police can prosecute without needing to inform them, Gollub said likes this set-up because more people can be stopped now.

Residents can also call the city animal control when they suspect animal abuse. Animal control is set-up to take the measures needed to step in and stop the abuse, if there is any. Sidebar code:

While animal abuse is a serious crime, an arrest and court time is not always the MSPCA's first course of action. Before approaching a situation, Gollub said the MSPCA law enforcement will access the danger and then if it involves something like neglect, the MSPCA first tries to educate the person on what they are doing wrong. Gollub said he finds during a return visit that people have complied.

"We have a job to do but that being said, we are generally able to work with people," Gollub said.