I recently tried an animal cruelty case in which I had to amend the charging petition because it was very difficult to tell who had greater right of ownership (if any) of two kittens that were killed and none of the potential owners were cooperative. The person on trial had fed a couple of young kittens to a vicious dog. I amended to one charge in the alternative of either torturing an animal or causing an animal to fight with another, and didn't have any problems. A reasonable juror should know what torture is or what an animal fight is.

To JK McCown -- I saw your recent post and thought you might want to take a look at these stories folks shared with me.

In May I presented a CLE paper highlighting recent animal cruelty cases that were not successfully prosecuted. Feel free to contact me to discuss (direct--713-646-1351).

I think the animal cruelty statute could stand to be revised -- what do you think?