Virginia’s Animal Welfare Laws Need to Reflect Modern Realities.

According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, animal abusers are five times as likely to engage in violence against people, and significant numbers of domestic abuse victims delay going to a shelter out of fear for the safety of their pets. Given the strong correlation between animal abuse and intimate partner violence, tightening our Commonwealth’s animal welfare laws not only helps our pets — it makes our communities safer.

In Congress, I cosponsored legislation to prohibit conducting invasive research on great apes, as well as legislation to strengthen the law banning depictions of animal cruelty in videos.

I’m proud to be the first candidate in this race to lay out how Virginia can strengthen animal welfare protections.

Establish a Statewide Animal Abuser Tracking System

Given the correlation between animal abuse, intimate partner violence, and child abuse, it makes sense to track the most serious crimes against animals. This bipartisan approach would allow law enforcement and victims’ advocacy groups to better-target intervention efforts, both to stem crimes against animals and also to prevent crimes against people, particularly underreported offenses like intimate partner violence.

Our criminal justice system is badly in need of overhaul to combat over-incarceration for nonviolent crimes. Working to reduce mass incarceration and the over-criminalization of nonviolent offenses will free up resources to tackle the crimes that endanger our communities.

In 2016, the FBI reclassified animal abuse crimes in line with felony crimes like assault and arson in their criminal database, a move that came at the urging of the National Sheriffs’ Association, given the association between animal cruelty and violent crimes against people.

Animal cruelty is intrinsically correlated with antisocial behavior, to the extent that cruelty to animals is used as a diagnostic criterion in identifying personality disorders. Virginia should have a nonpublic, statewide animal abuser tracking system, to ensure all our safety.

Redefine Animal Neglect to Include Exposing Animals to Extreme Temperatures

Virginia should more explicitly define animal abuse and neglect in the Code of Virginia and include in an expanded definition of animal neglect: subjecting animals to extreme temperatures, intentionally or otherwise, without appropriate shelter or climate control safeguards. This would address the severe risks posed by leaving dogs confined in cars and tethered outside on hot days.

Crack Down on Puppy Mills

Currently, Virginia allows commercial dog breeders to maintain up to 50 breeding dogs. Given that the average size of dog litters is 6 puppies, these facilities can be home to hundreds of dogs at a time, with increasing density also multiplying the likelihood of unsafe and inhumane living conditions for these animals.

As governor, I will call to lower the cap on the number of breeding dogs commercial dog breeders can maintain.

Ban Convicted Animal Abusers from Owning Pets

If you have been convicted of abusing an animal, unless you successfully and proactively participate in a rehabilitation program, you should lose the right to care for another.

Using a newly-established, statewide animal abuser tracking system, officers of our criminal justice system would be better-able to enforce a ban on animal abusers owning other pets. In combination with tightening our Commonwealth’s animal abuse and neglect laws and cracking down on violations, this is a common sense step to prevent avoidable animal suffering.