Animal cruelty legislation

John Brummett recounts a recent conversation I had with Dustin McDaniel on his latest draft of his first offense animal cruelty bill. The latest e-mail campaign questions whether electronic collars and "invisible fences" will subject pet owners to prosecution. Regardless of how the definition is drafted, at some point you have to give the elected prosecutor discretion to determine what's cruelty and what's not. On the other hand, when legislation gives arrest authority to private organizations, these are the questions that have to be asked/remedied before the law is enacted.