Cause for Pause: Theft of Cats Can Go Unpunished
Stealing a dog is a felony in Virginia. Cats, however, get no respect. Snatch one and you’re unlikely to be charged.
A proposed law under review in the House of Delegates would change that, making the punishment for stealing a dog and a cat identical.
A brazen thief who tucked a kitten named Ernie under his shirt and ran out of the Richmond SPCA last year sparked the movement for what advocates have jokingly dubbed "Ernie’s Law."
"All I’m trying to do is have the law reflect that if you steal a cat or you steal a dog, the penalty should be the same," said Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond, sponsor of HB334.
Cats present a legal quandary because of their independent nature, lawmakers noted during Monday’s discussion in a House Courts of Justice subcommittee.
Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he had a cat that disappeared for three years, only to return a few weeks ago.
"If it wanders off the property and they (other people) start caring for it, are they guilty of a Class 5 felony?" he asked.
Farmers, especially those with dairy cows, who often end up taking in wandering cats attracted to milk, have similar concerns.
"We wouldn’t want farmers convicted of a felony for cats they don’t own and aren’t trying to steal," said Lindsay Potts, lobbyist for the Virginia Farm Bureau.
Lawmakers asked that advocates clarify the proposed law before it’s reconsidered. Cats are sometimes stolen for bait in dog fights or for medical research, advocates said.
The main point is to make sure people who steal cats and dogs are treated equally, said Robin Starr, director of the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She was able to track down the man who stole Ernie, a gray and white kitten, because a staffer jotted down the thief’s license plate.
Starr negotiated with the man for three days, finally securing Ernie’s return in a meeting at a junkyard.
SPCA officials tried to prosecute him, but found cats are not covered under existing law, which makes stealing a dog, horse, pony, mule, cow, steer, bull or calf a Class 5 felony, punishable by one to 10 years in jail.
Instead, the applicable charge for stealing a cat was a Class 1 misdemeanor for larceny of objects under $200. The Richmond commonwealth’s attorney was not interested in prosecuting, Starr said.
"Had he stolen a puppy, we could have charged him," she said. "People who love their cats love them just as much as dogs."
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
proposed law
The law would make the punishment for stealing a cat the same as for stealing a dog. There’s no law now that specifically deals with cat theft.