Bill to balance penalties for stealing pets is killed

If you steal or harm a cat the only daylight u should ever see again should be thru razor wire. Cats are loyal servants and protectors to humans. Lets protect them!

Ten years for stealinga dog or any animal is stupid. SO peole love their animals. YOu can kill another human and get less time. Dogs are not better than human beings. I say a bunch of silly animal lovers have too much influence on old dinosaur legislators

Opponents disagree.

"To give an individual years in the pen for stealing a $100 mongrel cat is a heavy penalty," said Del. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth.

But it's OK to give a big penalty for stealing a $100 mongrel dog?
this delegate is a moron.

This is just absurd.People have to much focus on animals when we have animal(humans) in the streets killing our children, mother, father need I say more. 10 years look at those kids who killed the poor young man in Norfolk a few months ago how much time did they get? One will get out when he is 21. my point is a human life vs.an anmials lifes. They need to be focused on how to get these gangs, drug dealer, killers, off our streets and stiffer penalities for them. Let the punishment fit the crime.

is because in the 80's and 90's there was a nice rash of dog thefts where the animals were sold for lab research. The nice big chested dogs like danes and shepards were used for open heart research. Look it up.

Of all the important issues facing Virginians today this has to be at the top of the heap. Cat snatching. One thing about our legislators, they may be inept, but they can still give us a chuckle.

It is rumored that the highly rated TV show, the Gerry Springer Show, is moving to and undisclosed location in Virginia. The TV shows producers have observed over several years that most of their talent (guests) come from the State of Virginia. Have followed numerous legislative bills being defeated and then the publics' reasoning for the support of these decisions made by their elected official is just "too enticing" to leave untapped for our show one executive was heard to say. It is a "double bonus" we have both legislators and the general public to draw from to entertain our national audience.

1) There should of course be no difference between dogs and cats in the eyes of the law.

2) While this legislation may not be as important or urgent as other legislation, people who claim that it is frivolous are simply callous.

This is the most pressing issue of our time. It is far more important than any other bill before the Legislature. If immediate action isn't taken, life as we know it could end!

Is this why we send legislators to Richmond?

Here's a shocker for Del. Joannou and company - a lot of us crazy cat people are registered VOTERS! Do you really think someone loves their pet more or less based on the price tag? I guess there are no $100.00 mongrel dogs out there either - or is it OK to steal those too? I have a purebred Siamese cat who cost well over your hundred dollars and I also own a "mongrel" dog who actually did cost a hundred bucks. Here's the kicker, They are equally loved and treasured, and God help anyone who tries to take either one. The theft of someone's pet is wrong, be it dog or cat or whatever, it's not an issue of breed, or price tag. It's the the loss of a cherished companion caused by someone else's greed and/or stupidity and should be equally punishable.

I am a dog person, but it is absurd to make stealing a dog a more serious crime than stealing a cat. People tend to be very attached to their pets and consider them members of the family, whether it be a dog, cat, pot bellied pig or horse. Who are these morons to say that one is better than the other? They're all God's creatures and they all deserve respect and protection under the same law. Besides, the dog law is only effective if the thief is caught, which is unlikely since the police appear way too busy kicking in the doors of innocent people based on tips from "confidential informants" to follow up on other crimes.

Maybe when cat owners are required to maintain the cat the way we are required to maintain a dog. Always on a leash. Require to have a license. Must be spayed/neutered. Required to pick up the crap behind them. Not allowed to roam free. Yea, when cats are subject to the same restrictions dogs are, then they can be treated equal.

I don't believe this was defeated due to cats being unimportant or not of value. I think it probably had more to do with determining what defines the theft of a cat. Many people leave their cats to roam outdoors. Any animal that is free to roam the neighborhood and is taken in by someone else is not "stolen", it was simply given a real home. I would think charges would be in order if someone broke into your home and stole your cat but given the lack of leash laws in many places for cats and especially the tendency of cat owners to ignore them, it's just pointless to try to prosecute someone for essentially rescuing a stray.

When others look at this type of legislative activity, no wonder we are the laughing stock of state legislatures. Steal a cat - execution , steal a dog - execution. We need a Judge Dreed.

Steal a dog and get a longer sentence than the drunk driver who ran a red light and killed my father!
Respect for the law! Laws like this make me despise it and the morons who make them!

If stealing a cat is a mesdemeanor and stealing a dog is a felony; then stealing an old car should be a misdemeanor and only stealing a new car should be a felony, stealing a Ford Festiva should only be a misdemeanor and a Lincoln Towncar a felony. Steal a pick-up truck-misdemeanor; steal a dump truck-felony.
Who are you to decide what my cat is worth?? If someone stole my cat, or my dog, I would chase him to the end of the earth and beat him unrecognisable. I would be out of jail before he got out of intensive care.
Who elected these flaming morons to the general assembly anyway??

Dogs & cats are like apples & oranges. But in my opinion dog theft is the greater crime, no matter what the value is. But I am curious where these $100 felines of dubious parentage are sold.."We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us."
Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 - 1949)

I have had cats all my life and if someone stole one of mine I would want them to pay a fine and do some jail time. These people in Richmond that reject or pass bills should have their heads examined. Wake up Commonweath and smell the coffee!

You are a fool! Get your cat brain off your emotions and pass bills that actually make sense and stop wasting our time and money!! How about if YOU get caught stealing our money ie pork projects, govt waste, good ol boy projects. YOU get mandatory 20yrs. in prison! Incredible thank God somebody had some sense and killed that mess.