MP seeks crackdown on cruelty to animals

A first-term National Party MP is seeking cross-party support for a law change for harsher penalties in cases of extreme cruelty to animals.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has drafted a private member's bill to raise the maximum penalty for wilful ill-treatment under the Animal Welfare Act from three to five years in prison.

Mr Bridges said tougher penalties for animal abuse were backed by research showing cruelty to animals was an early warning sign of more psychopathic violence later in life. MORE>>

Do animals feel pain? Savages, Drunks and Lab Animals: The Researcher's Perception of Pain Very interesting article about the use of anesthetic drugs on humans and why some humans were considered animals. Does this have anything to do with the new member's bill? What do you think?