GAUTIER – Across Mississippi, pets are being abandoned on bridges, at dead ends and even outside closed animal shelters. The issue has grown more pressing as shelters reach full capacity, leaving pet owners with two options: wait for an available surrender date or leave their animals in a place where no one will see them.

Weak legal protections and limited enforcement make the problem worse. Unlike most states, Mississippi does not explicitly define animal abandonment as a crime, a gap that has led to growing calls for reform from animal advocacy groups.

 

A difficult crime to enforce 

Animal control officers and shelters work to care for abandoned pets, but those responsible often go unidentified.

“It’s the complete anonymity of what happens at the crime,” said Joseph Barlow, director of the Jackson County Animal Shelter. “People aren’t completely stupid, what they’re doing is choosing times, locales, that are really, again, go back to the anonymity.”

Jackson County Animal Shelter, which also oversees animal control for the county, handles a steady flow of abandonment cases each year. But by the time officers arrive, Barlow said, the trail is usually cold.

“You’ve got a call that a homeowner has found four puppies on their property when they got up in the morning, that they didn’t own and have never seen before – and that’s all we know,” Barlow said. “Typically, we don’t have much to go on whatsoever.”

Unlike most animal control agencies, Jackson County’s officers are not part of a law enforcement, limiting their ability to investigate these cases.

“Most animal control agencies work for a law enforcement agency. Jackson County is a little unique. They work for the shelter,” Barlow explained. “My guys are commissioned sheriff deputy officers, so they don’t have the full authority to do a full-scale investigation. We’d have to partner with the sheriff’s department when we have a lead.”

Because of these limitations, abandonment cases are rarely prosecuted.

“It’s a situation where probably one out of ten cases where you would have any leads to go on who did it. And when you do and you can identify (who it was), you’re still not talking about criminal charges, but you’re talking about charges in justice court. Court date, fines associated with it,” Barlow said.

 

Mississippi’s legal gaps 

Mississippi’s current “simple animal cruelty” charge can apply to abandonment cases, but it is classified as a misdemeanor, punishable by fines up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail.

However, the law does not explicitly classify abandonment as a standalone offense — an omission Kathleen Wood, senior staff attorney at Animal Legal Defense Fund, said makes Mississippi an outlier.

“Mississippi actually doesn’t have any laws explicitly addressing animal abandonment,” Wood said. “There are some provisions around animal neglect that may apply depending on the situation, but the laws don’t explicitly address abandoning an animal.”

Even the term “animal abandonment” appears only once in Mississippi law, under the Veterinarian Protection Act — which only applies to cases where a pet is left at a vet’s office, according to Barlow.

Barlow believes Mississippi’s approach is too narrow.

“We’ve defined some very narrow abandonment scenarios,” he said. “For example, one would be if a customer brought a pet to a vet for care and didn’t pick it up, and then after a period of ten days, that animal is considered abandoned. Well, that’s great and probably appropriate, but the scenarios for animals being dumped or truly abandoned in my mind are not fleshed out quite enough.”

Another challenge is the lack of funding for enforcement.

“There are currently four states that have dedicated prosecutors whose job it is specifically to do animal cruelty crimes throughout the state,” Wood explains. “That is a great way to ensure that there are adequate resources, especially rural areas where counties might be strapped.

 

Mississippi ranks 46 in animal protection laws 

The Animal Legal Defense Fund ranks Mississippi 46th in the country for its animal protection laws, citing significant gaps in enforcement and regulation. In addition to a lack of laws explicitly mentioning animal abandonment, laws protecting animals are only applied to certain pets.

“Mississippi is ranked in the bottom five because it has some decent dog and cat protection laws,” Wood said. “Unfortunately, those protections are not afforded to many other species, which is a big part of why it’s ranked so low.”

 

Local Efforts and Challenges 

Despite legal challenges, local shelters and advocates are working to protect abandoned animals.

“Our first priority is always the welfare of the animals,” Barlow emphasized. “From a punishment perspective, certainly we’re interested in (increased penalties) to a degree. But again, the number one priority is getting the animals safe, fed, and medical care and whatever they need.”

Still, he believes Mississippi needs a statewide approach to addressing abandonment.

“Having a state approach that’s again, a little more broad and addresses animal abandonment in all its forms would be nice,” Barlow says.

Wood agrees, and said Mississippi could benefit from looking at states with stronger animal protection laws.

For now, abandoned pets in Mississippi remain caught in a legal gray area — left to fend for themselves while advocates push for change.

 

This article was first published by the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at RHCJCnews.com.