Louisiana laws protect animals from several types of cruel treatment.
Louisiana's animal cruelty laws make it a crime to inflict pain on an animal. These laws are meant to protect the animals and to punish the abusers. Threatening to harm an animal is not the same crime as the act of cruelty and thus is not treated the same under the law.
Actions Are Punishable
All Louisiana laws on animal cruelty require an act of harm to the animal and not a threat. The law states that it is illegal to kill, overwork, torture, torment, abandon, poison, neglect or give drugs and alcohol to an animal. Animal fighting and putting retired circus or zoo animals down "for sport" are also illegal, according to the Louisiana State Legal Code.
Offenses
When threats escalate into acts of animal cruelty, the statutes are very clear on the penalties. The state of Louisiana has two levels of animal cruelty: criminal negligence and aggravated cruelty. Aggravated cruelty is the worse crime of the two. Intentional cruelty in the form of mutilation, torture and maiming are aggravated cruelty, according to the Louisiana state statutes. This also applies to purchasing an animal with the intent to harm it. Purchasing an animal and then threatening to kill it is also aggravated cruelty.
Criminal negligence is overworking, tormenting, neglecting, abandoning, poisoning, or mistreating an animal, according to the Louisiana state statutes. Purchasing an animal with the intent to do these things is also criminal negligence.
Penalties
A criminal negligence conviction brings a fine of $1,000 or less and/or a prison term of six months or less. The court usually mandates community service hours as well. Aggravated cruelty brings a fine of $5,000 or less and/or a prison term of one to 10 years. Each act is a separate offense that can be punished as such if more than one animal is harmed.
Considerations
The threat to kill wild game and the act of killing them is legal under Louisiana law. Only domestic, circus and zoo animals are covered under the statutes. However, the statute covers wild game that is tortured or harmed outside of hunting.
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