Video: Winona Expands Their Ordinance On Animal Cruelty Penalties

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WINONA, Miss. (WCBI)  – One city is cracking down on animal cruelty punishment.
In a unanimous decision, the Winona Board of Alderman voted to raise the fines for animal cruelty under an expanded ordinance.
The change comes after fury was ignited when a Winona man was fined $327.50 for torching his live dog in his back yard.

That case revealed the inadequate 2009 city ordinance against animal cruelty.

Doll Stanley says it’s one of the most disturbing cases she’s seen.

“If you can imagine being a sentient creature and being torched while you’re alive, the agony of that kind of death is unthinkable,” said Doll Stanley, Justice for Animals Campaign Director.

She says when the Winona man responsible for burning his dog alive, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor, people from all over the country called to voice their concern on the small punishment he received for such the heinous crime.

“This man pled guilty to torching his dog. He got the penalty under the city ordinance. And don’t slam the board of alderman and the mayor. When the law was written in the city ordinance, they never conceived this kind of thing would happen. They thought the animal control officer would be going to somebody who didn’t feed their dog that day, or they didn’t put water out for the dog. Nobody foresaw this,” said Stanley.

The strong reaction to the man’s punishment influenced city leaders to expand their animal cruelty ordinance.

“We just want to make sure here in Winona that everybody and every animal is taken care of. We don’t want any cruelty and if people do that, there’ll be a price they have to pay,” said Winona Mayor Jerry Flowers.

Previously, the fine for animal cruelty was at most $150, now it can reach up to $2,500 with six months of jail time.

Stanley says by Winona expanding their ordinance, it’s a step in the right direction but now she wants to see the state laws become more tough on animal cruelty.

“The step that has to be taken is for our state legislature to understand that cruelty to animals is abhorrent behavior and that act has to be met with penalties that meet the seriousness of it,” said Stanley.
Stanley urges residents to voice their concern about tougher state animal cruelty laws to their local state representatives.