The USA is a large country with a huge population and a great deal of diversity. Unfortunately, that diversity also extends to the way in which people treat animals. There are some who will stretch every sinew and go beyond the call of duty to assist an animal in distress. And then there are those, like the officials of New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Health Department, who wouldn’t bat an eyelid before putting an animal to death for a petty cause.
Now, the National Police Association, a non-profit organization supporting law enforcement and civil rights through advocacy, education, and law, has spoken up in favour of Peanut’s Law: Humane Animal Protection Act, a bill introduced by New York State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, Republican, of District 15. The legislation aims to reform the “reckless” manner in which authorities seize and euthanize animals in the care of sanctuaries, something the association characterized as a “disgraceful abuse that threatens not only animal welfare but the fundamental principles of justice and due process”.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Health Department took action in the case because of the simple lack of a wildlife permit. At most, the police association said, the sanctuary should have been required to appear before a civil court and explain the lack of a permit. However, “the state went from 0 to 60 in zero seconds”, the association said, obtaining a criminal search warrant, raiding the sanctuary, ripping P’nut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon away from their protectors, and killing them.
The police association said the bill represents a crucial line in the sand, a refusal to allow government apparatchiks to trample over sanctuaries, due process, and the basic decency owed to the animals entrusted to their care. Click here to review the bill.
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Among the key provisions is a mandatory waiting period before New York officials can carry out death sentences on sanctuary animals deemed “a public hazard”. The waiting period would give sanctuaries a chance to appeal or take the matter to court. This safeguard ensures that due process is not an afterthought but a fundamental right, the police association said.
“Peanut’s Law is a thoughtful bill that can prevent state authorities from seizing or killing sanctuary animals without just cause,” said Paula Fitzsimmons, legislative director of the National Police Association. “The bill protects animals while allowing sanctuaries to exercise their right to due process of law.”
The National Police Association thanked Rep Blumencranz for introducing what it called a vital legislation. Peanut’s Law is a model of balance, addressing animal welfare, the rights of sanctuaries, and public safety with equal vigour, it said, and urged New York state lawmakers to pass it at once.
SOURCE: PR Newswire
Sandy Pawpaw
Sandy Pawpaw is a fierce advocate of unleashing the animal in, and with, you.
