Animals can be 'victims' just like people, Oregon Supreme Court says
In two landmark rulings earlier this month, the Oregon Supreme Court said that animals – whether they be horses, goats, dogs or cats – shall be afforded some of the same basic protections as human beings.
The dual rulings are expected to make it easier for police to rush to the aid of ailing animals without first obtaining a warrant. They also could result in harsher criminal repercussions for those found guilty of abusing or neglecting animals.
“These are hugely helpful to the prosecution of animal-cruelty cases,” said Jacob Kamins, a Corvallis-based prosecutor assigned to pursuing such cases across Oregon.
Specifically, in State v. Arnold Nix, the supreme court ruled that a Umatilla County man who was convicted of starving 20 horses and goats on his property could be sentenced – not just on one count of second-degree animal neglect – but on 20 different counts, meaning each animal counted as a separate “victim.”
For defendants in general, that could result in longer jail or prison sentences, and make it more difficult for defendants to – years later – expunge such convictions off of their criminal records.
“To acknowledge that animals are victims of crime, that’s really common sense to us,” said Lora Dunn, staff attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund in Portland.
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