Nevada: Strengthen Animal Protection Laws, Support Cooney's Law

Your help is needed today to pass “Cooney’s Law” SB 223 and make certain acts of animal cruelty a felony on the first offense!

Last fall, a Reno man brutally cut his dog Cooney with a box cutter. He watched as she ran around the room, bleeding, her intestines falling out. Cooney died of shock and blood loss. The man later pled guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge, paid a small fine and was released with jail time served. Why didn’t he face a more serious penalty? Because Nevada’s current anti-cruelty felony penalty is applicable only on a third offense.

Nevada is the only state in the country where someone can torture an animal to death on three separate occasions before facing a felony animal cruelty charge.

SB 223 will change this deplorable fact and make certain that prosecutors have the ability to appropriately charge those who commit the most heinous acts of cruelty against animals the first time they do it. By authorizing such a first-offense felony, Nevada will help to ensure that the penalty actually fits the crime.

Please act today! SB 223 must make it out of committee by April 15.

Your help is critical for the passage of this important bill. Please contact your state legislators through ALDF's website today and ask for their support of SB 223!