Nevada Assembly introduces bill to strengthen penalties against animal abusers

CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) - Nevada Assembly Minority Leader P.K. O’Neill introduced a bill Thursday to strengthen penalties against animal abusers.

AB159 would preclude those convicted of cruelty against animals from being eligible for early release.

Assembly Republicans say the impetus for the bill was the case of Jason Brown, who in 2014 was convicted of torturing and killing dogs and became eligible for parole in 2022.

The Republican assembly members say they are prioritizing the bill as a matter of public safety due to a link between cruelty to animals and future acts of harm against humans.

“Over the last few years in Nevada, we have seen, in the news media, several reprehensible incidents of animal cruelty. Sadly, we do not currently have laws and sentencing guidelines in Nevada statute to punish these horrible crimes properly,” said Minority Leader P.K. O’Neill. “I’ve never received so many emails and phone calls from my constituents about an issue. Today, I am proud to present this bipartisan bill which would solve this problem by adding definitions of animal cruelty crimes and corresponding sentencing guidelines to statute. Those who harm animals with evil and malicious intent should not be allowed to seek release or have their records sealed. Put simply, those who commit serious acts of animal cruelty need to be locked up. We need to make sure our public safety officers and our courts have the power to do so.”