Every state should adopt this standard!<\/p>\n
That sounds really good.But instead of it saying cats or dogs , it should be any animal. It isn\u2019t just cats and dogs that are [a.bu.sed].
\nThis Is a great start though\u2026!<\/p>\n
In a unanimous 7\u20130 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the state\u2019s felony animal [c.ru.el.ty] law, known as Goddard\u2019s Law, applies to all cats and dogs\u2014whether they have an owner or not.<\/p>\n
The law is named after Dick Goddard, a beloved Cleveland TV meteorologist who became widely known not just for forecasting the weather, but for his deep commitment to animal welfare. For decades, he used his platform to speak out against [c.ru.el.ty] and promote pet adoption\u2014helping inspire stronger protections for animals across the state.<\/p>\n
Until now, Ohio\u2019s lower court had interpreted the law differently, ruling that only pets receiving care qualified for felony protection\u2014meaning harming a stray could be treated as a [le.ss.er] offence.
\nThat has now changed.<\/p>\n
The [ca.se] began with a [he.artbre.aking] act of [c.ru.el.ty] in 2021, when a [stray] kitten in a Cleveland apartment basement was [at.ta.ck.ed]. The [co.nvi.ction] that followed was later overturned on appeal, sparking [ou.tra.ge] and prompting major animal welfare groups\u2014including the Humane Society of the United States, Alley Cat Allies, Cleveland Animal Protective League, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund\u2014to step in and push for clarity.<\/p>\n
With this ruling, there is no longer a distinction between a pet and a stray when it comes to protection under the law.
\nEvery cat. Every dog. Protected.
\nOhio now stands as one of the strongest states in the country for animal protection\u2014sending a clear message that [cr.ue.lty], no matter who the animal belongs to, will be [taken] seriously.<\/p>\n
it should be a federal law for all states and for all animals
\nANY cat or dog regardless of whether someone one owns it or not is now covered. It\u2019s a good step forward but we have a ways to go\u2026<\/p>\n
Thank you for the present changes to protect those who can\u2019t speak for themselves. \u2665\ufe0f\ud83d\ude0a\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc3e<\/p>\n
SHARE this Precious story with your friends and family!\ud83d\udc95<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every state should adopt this standard! That sounds really good.But instead of it saying cats or dogs , it should be any animal. It isn\u2019t just cats and dogs that are [a.bu.sed]….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":550,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548\/revisions\/550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralstoryworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}