LETTER: Article on prosecuting animal cruelty in Nevada made excellent points

There were excellent points made in your Tuesday article, “Pet Detectives,” that are reminders to our judicial system and legislators that we need to take animal abuse more seriously.

Abusers often go from harming animals to hurting humans. The FBI and Sheriff’s Association have recognized that animal abuse is a harbinger of more serious crimes, which is why they compile data and monitor these activities.

Unfortunately, after our police and prosecutors have done their jobs to bring perpetrators to justice, the courts often fall short by imposing lenient sentences and permitting defendants to plea down to lesser offenses. There are egregious cases where mandatory assessments/treatment and prison time should have been imposed along with prohibiting the defendant from owning animals in the future. Because none of this sentencing occurred, many defendants repeated and escalated their offenses.

Sadly, many of our legislators have expressed that their concern lies more with prison reform than on issues that impact public safety as a result of animal cruelty. It seems that the welfare of law-abiding citizens takes a back seat to prisoner rights.

I applaud Sarah Overly and Ashley Lacher in the district attorney’s office and Metro detective Robert Sigal for taking this type of crime seriously. For those tasked with creating laws that maintain public safety, I’d like to remind them that their constituents’ safety is just as important as the rights of those who are incarcerated. And while animals cannot vote, people who care about them do.