Animal Advocates Rally In Support Of Angel's Law At Humane Society
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Animal advocates came together Saturday morning at the Western Pa. Humane Society to rally their support for Angel's Law, legislation aimed at ending animal cruelty.
Angel's Law, which is awaiting a vote in the House Judiciary Committee, would increase the grading of charges related to the abuse of animals.
"Particularly, repeat offenders. Repeat offenders who might be just getting a misdemeanor offense now would be facing a felony and potential jail time," said Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Frankel who spoke at the rally.
Rep. Dom Costa organized the rally, and has been working to get the bill passed for quite a while now.
But the House Judiciary Committee must vote on the bill before it gets the chance to pass the state House and Senate.
"[Rep. Costa] has been working on this through the last three sessions of the legislature; and this time, I think with the work that he's done and other legislators, we really have an opportunity to get this bill out of the Judiciary Committee and on to the House floor," said Rep. Frankel. "It looks like we'll have that opportunity this year."
They are urging animal lovers to contact their local legislator about getting Angel's Law passed.
"We need people to advocate and here you have so many animal lovers who are so committed to the Humane Society to getting animals out of shelters and adopting them," Rep. Frankel said.
"You get those sorts of people with the stories that they have, have the opportunity to really present a compelling case to other legislators who this may not be a priority for, but I think who would be sympathetic to getting this done particularly when they know the community is behind it," he added.
Rep. Costa was unable to attend the rally due to illness, but in a press release said:
"Help me call on my fellow Pennsylvania lawmakers to advance Angel's Law and help us end animal cruelty in Pennsylvania."
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