Cinder & Smoke,

"I found out today the Bill is being "reviewed" by the Agriculture Dept to determine if any language in the Bill will negatively impact farmers. The Governor will look at Agriculture's report AND the Public Input he gets via Phone & E-mail - then make his decision to sign or veto the Bill."quoted by C & S.

Indiana is considered an "Agricultural " state like Ohio.We here
in Indy had suprising strong support for increasing a 1st
conviction of Animal Cruelty to a Felony, instead of waiting
for the 2nd conviction to raise the level of penality from misdemeanor to felony. The bill never became law because
of intense lobbying by the "farm bureau interests" in Indiana.
We did however get stronger penalties exacted for people
convicted of animal fighting, or owning equipment used to
train animals to fight. Some progress anyway...but not enough.

People have to find a way of separating Companion Animals
from typical farm or market animals in the wording of laws.?