Wynn wants to stiffen animal abuse law
Photo 
Evan Wynn
MADISON — A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would stiffen the state law against animal abuse.
Rep. Evan Wynn, R-Whitewater, has unveiled “Casey’s Law,” a bill that would make it possible to charge a person with a felony for pet abuse that results in internal injuries.
The bill is named after a great Pyrenees dog shot with an arrow in May 2010 while walking with his owner along railroad tracks in Lima Township.
Dale A. Moore, 62, rural Milton, shot the dog with an arrow. He later was convicted in Rock County Court of misdemeanor mistreatment of animals, fined and ordered to serve a year of probation.
Casey survived after surgery, but Wynn said he’s learned from Casey’s owners that the dog now has trouble walking, running and jumping because of internal injuries from the arrow.
Wynn, who represents the 43rd Assembly District, said he heard from many who felt Moore’s punishment was too light.
“People felt it was such a severe case, it should have been bumped up,” said Wynn. “Look, if somebody hurts your pet to the point that it can’t jump or walk with its normal gait, it probably qualifies as more than a misdemeanor.”
Under Wynn’s bill, prosecutors could classify an act such as Moore’s as a possible felony with a punishment of up to 32 years in prison, or a fine of $10,000.
Wynn’s bill picks up the thread on a similar bill introduced in August 2010 by Kim Hixson who represented the 43rd Assembly District at the time.
Hixson’s bill sought to create a law that made felony charges possible in cases of unprovoked assaults on pets with a deadly weapon.
Wynn said Hixson’s bill never got past its introduction, probably because it was introduced late in a busy legislative session.
Wynn’s bill differs in that it only adds a section to state statutes covering animal cruelty.
Under current statutes, people can be charged with a felony only if they kill, maim or disfigure a pet. Wynn’s bill would add internal injuries to the list.
The law would apply only to pets, not farm animals or wild animals, and Wynn said it could not be used to target veterinarians, livestock farmers or others who work with animals.
Wynn has caught heat from people irritated by his animal abuse bill because they believe he should instead be working on boosting jobs and the economy.
Wynn, who owns a 10-year-old yellow Labrador, said he feels he’s able to split his efforts between jobs, the economy and other issues.
“I thought this was a common sense issue,” Wynn said. “I try to look at each situation on its own merit. There’s a lot of laws I’d like to change.”
Nov 7, 2011 at 7:56 p.m.
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I highly support your proposed bill Mr. Wynn. To all who are concerned about the economy, jobs, etc. One man cannot 'fix' this scenerio, overnight or otherwise. If he or anyone else never speaks up for an animals behalf, who will? My 5 year old yellow Lab is a victim to a hit and run from 17 days ago. Not only did this woman hit my dog, but she swerved intentionally into the end of my driveway to hit her, then backed up and tried to 'put her out of her misery' by hitting her again. Luckily my dog survived and only yesterday (16 days after this happened) did I by chance find out who did this and what exactly occured. This woman was bragging about her actions with my dog at her place of work, it's a small town and I was told all of this by a reliable source. I called our local Police Department. Of course the woman denied everything except that yes, she did hit the dog. I am currently persuing further action to teach this woman a valuable lesson. My dog may never walk again with a correct gait, she suffered severe nerve damage in her left front leg and major ligament damage in her right front leg. And this woman has the audacity to then be bragging about her actions, with no less than 8 witnesses. I love this dog so much and on top of looking at her precious face, and her limping in her 'sling' that she must wear in order to have me assist her walking to go outdoors to relieve herself, we incurred over $4,000.00 in vet bills. We can't afford this, but as anyone who takes on the responsibility of any kind of animal, with it comes the care and financial obligations as they deserve. You wouldn't question that for a person, so why doesn't an animal deserve the same? In this case, she is a dog. So I will leave you with this thought.....'Not every person has the ability to love a dog, but every dog has the ability to love a person'......you can't say that about most people.
Nov 6, 2011 at 12:08 p.m.
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Meechie, no what we care about is families making hard choices between eating and paying the rent, the two hundred school children in Janesville Schools that are homeless, the elderly that are "thrilled" they are getting an extra block of cheese so they can make cheese soup and grilled cheese sandwiches because they have bread. The fact we have people who are spending money dressing thier dogs for Halloween makes me sick.
Nov 3, 2011 at 11:34 a.m.
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I have seen my WOW and raised it to Flabbergasted! Does no one in the state of Wussconsin care about animals?? I am appalled at the lack of empathy for a living being!! @ddr: The dog was walking with his owner when it was shot! What an apathetic, insensitive, and irreverent bunch of jerks...
Nov 2, 2011 at 6:36 p.m.
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gmaof3: stay away from my pet worm!
Nov 2, 2011 at 6:15 p.m.
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Stupid bill, its an animal, fer cryin' out loud! Let it go! Dumb! Can I run for office? I could come up with even dorkier bills. Seriously... I promise!
We used to "torture" worms when I was six years old. Am I "arrestable"?
Nov 2, 2011 at 4:52 p.m.
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Let it go about the dog already. The dog is old that's why.the dog is having trouble walking. And what about the neglect of the owner, not having the dog on a leash. And you don't want to include Veterinarian's that do surgery on animal when not necessary. And what about farm animals covered in their own filth weeks after week. Still there is more important things, like job's and economic growth of this state is more important. That is why you ran for the position?
Nov 2, 2011 at 4:26 p.m.
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thank you Mr Wynn
Nov 2, 2011 at 4:25 p.m.
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There is also a law against letting your dog run loose. Enforce that law too.
Nov 2, 2011 at 4:14 p.m.
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I just realized that it has been exactly 1 year since this Wynn won his election on a campaign promising job creation. A year of broken promises, along with Knilans and Loudenbeck. This Rock County contingent is in the majority and should be able to get things done for the region, but they are failing their constituencies.
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The only explanation I can come up with is that Wynn introduced expanded beer sale hours in an effort to allow more voters the opportunity to get black-out drunk and forget the fact that he isn't doing any actual work.
Nov 2, 2011 at 3:42 p.m.
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janesvillejoe, spot on! Wynn is just another Party dupe.
Nov 2, 2011 at 3:30 p.m.
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TroubleMaker,
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You rely on the email updates from a politician to find out how that politician is performing? Do you know any politicians who would intentionally say anything bad about themselves in a prepared update to constituents? That would be like relying on oil companies to report on pollution in the gulf.
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Wynn's 'laser focus' on jobs has included a bill on animal cruelty and a bill that will allow UW-Whitewater students to buy beer 2 hours earlier than they were before. Where are the jobs? Where are the real ideas?
Nov 2, 2011 at 2:40 p.m.
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janesvillejoe: Your comments are totally off base and just flat wrong. Perhaps you should subscribe to Evan's e-mail status reports. He is the very best, hardest working, most level-headed elected official we have had in a long time.
Nov 2, 2011 at 1:03 p.m.
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The only job Wynn is worried about is his own. Rock County needs financial help and Wynn is either too ignorant or too incapable to actually accomplish anything to help the unemployed. Also, it's pretty funny that Wynn needs to use a bill he recycled from Hixson to get any notice. This guy is just keeping the seat warm for whoever beats him in the next election.
Nov 2, 2011 at 12:27 p.m.
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Wow! I am impressed that someone in Wisconsin is FOR animals and animal rights!! I am hoping that the bill passes, though Wisconsin is not really known as being an animal friendly state. I'm in Iowa, and will be watching with interest.
Nov 2, 2011 at 10:55 a.m.
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Wynn == wind, waste of time.
Nov 2, 2011 at 8:38 a.m.
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Representative Wynn is doing a great job. Our elected officials SHOULD be tweating existing laws to make them better rather than always presenting new bills. His job requires that he "multiplex" on many different issues. I'm sure this is not distracting him from the jobs issue. Good job Evan!
Nov 2, 2011 at 7:30 a.m.
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Single incident laws make bad law. The republicans need to decide what era they want. In the same wild west, gun tooting, everyone fend for themselves time they seem to be turning everything else, pets were property and just animals. If your dog got onto another person property, attacked others, and wouldn't leave, everyone knew that the proper response was to shoot the dog.
Nov 1, 2011 at 9:45 p.m.
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There are enough laws on the books concerning mistreatment of animals. Enforce the laws that are on the books. Where are the jobs from the jobs session?
Nov 1, 2011 at 6:16 p.m.
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jobs? "punishment of up to 32 years in prison". More people in prison = more prison guards. Oh wait, more state employees. Decisions, decisions. Maybe the state will out-source it to CCA.
Nov 1, 2011 at 4:34 p.m.
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Where are the jobs??!!
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