It seems that we read every week about a dog-fighting ring being busted or an animal hoarder being charged with animal cruelty. Usually, the animals have been seized from abusive or neglectful owners. Do you ever wonder what happens to the animals after that? For them, and the shelters that care for them, it can be just the beginning of the saga. Animals are considered to be property under the law. That means that they remain the legal property of their owners unless and until the owners voluntarily relinquish their rights to them or a court takes them away. Criminal sentences usually, but not always, provide for the forfeiture of the animals upon a conviction for animal cruelty but that usually occurs months, and sometimes years, after the animals are seized. What happens to them in the meantime? And who pays for their care?
When an owner is charged with violating the animal cruelty laws, whether through neglect or outright abuse, the animals must be held by the local humane society or shelter, awaiting reclaim by their owner in the event of an acquittal or dismissal of the charges. Without legal ownership of the animals, the shelter cannot adopt-out animals that are the subject of cruelty cases. The animals must simply wait in kennels or cages at the local shelter where they are housed and cared for until the termination of not only the criminal trial but also any appeals. So, the animals languish for months or years, unable to go to real homes, often deteriorating mentally and physically because of the stress of living confined in a shelter for so long.
