Each state has its laws against animal cruelty. While two lawmakers have proposed the PACT Act, a bill that makes animal cruelty a federal felony, it has not yet passed. As a result, it is important to know your states’ laws so that you can be an advocate for animals locally.
Michigan law defines animal cruelty as any of the following:
- Failure to provide an animal with adequate food, water, shelter or medical treatment
- Improperly tethering (or chaining) an animal
- Abandoning or causing abandonment of an animal without providing for the animal’s adequate care
- Cruelly beating, torturing, maiming or killing an animal
- Willfully or negligently allowing an animal to suffer unnecessarily
- Transporting an animal in a vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner
- Either poisoning or exposing an animal to poison
- The cropping of a dog’s ears or the docking of a dog’s tails, unless a registered veterinary surgeon performs such cropping while the dog is under anesthetic
View Michigan Animal Cruelty Laws here.
If you see any mistreatment or neglect of an animal; say something and do something. Contact your local animal control and the police department. We are their voice!