- Kris Crawford
Knock Out Dog Fighting Helps Form Multi-Agency Effort to Fight Animal Abuse - Kris Crawford
Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – June 1, 2010
The District Attorney’s Office is embarking on an important new project to fight animal abuse. This project was made possible with the help and support of nearly 30 community agencies, including law enforcement across Santa Clara County, San Jose Animal Control and Services, Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control, Palo Alto Animal Services, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority, Humane Society Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Humane Society, Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, Knock Out Dog Fighting, Doris Day Animal Foundation, Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, Support Network for Battered Women, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, Community Solutions, the YWCA, and Asian Americans for Community Involvement. Representatives from many of these organizations were on hand for a very special presentation to highlight the District Attorney’s Office’s project and widespread collaboration by the community to fight animal cruelty.
Speakers at the press conference addressed such issues as the importance of prosecuting animal cruelty cases, the link between animal abuse and violence against humans, availability of resources in the community to help both victims of domestic violence and their pets, and the importance of early intervention in teaching children humane education.
Attendees at the press conference each received a copy of the District Attorney’s Office’s brochure on animal abuse, a fact sheet about the link between animal abuse and violence against humans, and a copy of the pets in hot cars poster that will be distributed throughout the community. The poster is available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
Cracking Down On Animal Abuse
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- There is a new effort to crack down on animal abuse in Silicon Valley as people who are cruel to cats and dogs can also wind up being abusive to humans as well.
At a brand new animal shelter in Milpitas, volunteers know all too well the link between animal abuse and future acts of violence.
”We want people to recognize if there is something that’s showing up, where they find that someone is abusing an animal to speak up,” said Beth Ward, Chief Operating Officer for the Humane Society Silicon Valley. “Because if we can catch it at that point, we might be able to save human lives in the future.”
The Humane Society Silicon Valley is one of some 30 agencies joining a new program to encourage people to report animal abuse and prosecute cases of cruelty. Agencies include law enforcement across Santa Clara County, San Jose Animal Control and Services, Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control, Palo Alto Animal Services, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority, Humane Society Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Humane Society, Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, Knock Out Dog Fighting, Support Network for Battered Women, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, and Community Solutions.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr said too often, animal abuse goes unreported. ”We don’t see that many cases, but we certainly do prosecute them and we have seen a number of cases over the last couple of years,” said Carr.
Carr is reminding people to not leave pets in hot cars on warm days as it’s potentially deadly for the animal and illegal.
