Category: Personal Injury

Animal Fights and Animal Cruelty

 

Animal cruelty is almost just as bad as being mean to another human being. In some cases the fines could be almost as high or more as though you beat a human.

 

Animal Cruelty Laws

 

Sec. 8-3. – Animal cruelty.

A. A person commits animal cruelty if the person does any of the following:

1. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly subjects any animal under the person’s custody or control to cruel neglect or abandonment.

2. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly fails to provide medical attention necessary to prevent protracted suffering to any animal under the person’s custody or control.

3. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly inflicts unnecessary physical injury to any animal.

4. Recklessly subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment.

5. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly kills or attempts to kill any animal under the custody or control of another person without either legal privilege or consent of the owner.

6. Recklessly interferes with, strikes, kills or harms a working or service animal without either legal privilege or consent of the owner.

7. Strikes an animal with a vehicle resulting in injury to the animal, and leaves the scene without rendering aid and assistance in the care of such animal if such action can be taken with reasonable safety. For the purposes of this paragraph, “animal” means any animal of a species that is susceptible to rabies, except man.

 

It’s pretty sad when you have to have laws telling you to be nice to animals, but sadly that is what this world is coming to. Cruelty, in every form. Recently a woman in Phoenix was put into jail after she shot two dogs who were fighting in her own backyard over the weekend. Is that really jail worthy? The dogs shouldn’t have been in her yard and fighting non the less.

 

The fight happened on Saturday. This was at her home near 27th Street and Union Hills Drive. The court documents show that Katie Pallante who is only twenty-six years old, shot two dogs who were attacking one another in her own yard. At the time of the shooting, she was actually watching over twenty-two dogs and three cats.

 

Miss Pallante told the police that she tried to pull the dogs apart and spray them with water, however the dogs would not stop fighting. She then told them that she had to run inside to keep her four year old daughter from coming out the door. She then grabs her .40-caliber handgun. Which you can’t blame the woman for wanting to keep her daughter safe as well as the other animals. Miss Pallante runs back outside with her gun and then she shot the male dog in the stomach. The court documents also states that she then shoots the female dog who would not stop attacking the already injured dog.

 

Pallante says she didn’t want to kill the dogs,she just wanted them to stop fighting. The court documents show that the male dog did not belong to Pallante. The owner of the female dog is still unknown.  After Pallante shoots the two dogs she then leaves the home and goes to the nearby gas stations so she can pick up some cigarettes and a drink. One of the officers has to tell her to come back to her home. Maybe she isn’t quite as innocent as she first makes people believe.

 

The humane society shows up and takes both of the dogs. They do not know if the male injured dog will survive. Pallante is being booked into jail later on two counts of animal cruelty as well as two counts of discharging a firearm in city limits.

 

So if you hear two dogs fighting in your yard and you and your family are able to stay inside, do so and call the authorities or you can face the same sentence as Pallante.

 

Another Animal Cruelty Case

 

Arizona Proposition 201:

Proposition 201 would amend state law to create the crime of cockfighting. Cockfighting would be classified as a class 5 felony, generally punishable by a possible fine of up to $150,000 and a possible prison term ranging from nine months to two years. Presence at a cockfight would be classified as a class 1 misdemeanor, generally punishable by a possible fine of up to $2,500 and a possible jail term of up to six months. This proposition would extend existing state law animal cruelty exemptions and defenses that apply to lawful hunting, ranching, farming, rodeos and related activities to also apply to cockfighting. The measure passed in 1998 with 68.1% of the vote.

 

Cockfighting is a traditional event, not a good one but many people enjoying watching those poor Roosters kill each other. Some use little boxing gloves to cover the Rooster spurs, some add little blades. This and dog fighting, I find absolutely heart breaking.

 

Now a Phoenix man will no longer be able to torture those poor Roosters. The man has been arrested for his connection with cockfighting at his home which is in Phoenix.

 

Police try to cover these calls quickly but carefully. They want to try to catch all those involved in the illegal cockfighting matches. The police quickly responded to this call of cockfighting. They came to a home near 63rd Avenue and Van Buren Street on a Saturday. While the authorities were there they sadly were witnesses to several injured roosters.

 

Police luckily found and arrested Slivano Tena who is fifty years old for seventy-one counts of animal cruelty. How sad, it’s hard to tell how long the many years and how many fights have happened in Tena’s home. How many roosters had to die just for the enjoyment and betting on one or the other?

 

Luckily the humane society was quick to respond to the cockfighting scene the humane society was able to rescue seventy-one animals from the property. Mr. Tena did admit to owning the property and even renting out individual pens for the roosters.

 

If you know of someone who is fighting rooster, dogs, or whatever please let the local authorities know. Whatever information you give them will be confidential.

 

Criminal Defense Lawyers PLLC
668 N 44th St. Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85008
(480) 351-6445
https://www.criminaldefenselawyers.me