Question
If animals are being neglected and kept at the owner's parents' house, what can I do?
Answer
People who suspect an animal is being mistreated can contact the SPCA (society for the prevention of cruelty to animals), the police, and other entities in their area that enforce animal cruelty laws. California law states, in part, “…whoever, having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects any animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses any animal, or fails to provide the animal with proper food, drink, or shelter or protection from the weather, or who drives, rides, or otherwise uses the animal when unfit for labor, is, for each offense, guilty of a crime…” Sometimes the most expedient way to get an animal out of a bad situation is to offer to help with the animal and/or to adopt or purchase the animal (as unfair as this may seem under certain circumstances), particularly when law enforcement officers do not resolve the problem.
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