The Iowa Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would increase penalties for people who abuse or neglect animals in an effort to strengthen Iowa's animal cruelty laws, which are considered to be among the weakest in the country.

"I am sick and tired of hearing in the news on almost a daily or weekly basis of these cases where these companion animals are being abused," said the bill's floor manager, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale.

The bill, which passed the Senate on a vote of 44-3, would impose higher penalties for those who neglect, injure or kill an animal.

"What we’re trying to solve here is Iowa being one of the lowest-ranked states in regards to animal abuse," Zaun said.

Under the bill, if an animal was seriously injured or killed as a result of abuse or neglect, the crime would be an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in prison.

The Senate bill is a compromise after the Iowa House last year unanimously passed legislation upping penalties for a range of animal mistreatment offenses. While the Senate bill retains most of the higher penalties, it does not go as far as the House bill did on the crime of animal torture.

The House bill would have made first-offense animal torture a felony, but the Senate bill keeps the crime an aggravated misdemeanor — the same as current law.

The Senate bill would also require that people convicted of animal torture serve a mandatory minimum of 70% of that two-year sentence before being eligible for parole or work release. There is no mandatory minimum prison time under current law.

After completing their prison time, they would also have to serve between one and three years under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections, during which they would be monitored, similar to parole or work release.

Someone convicted of a second animal mistreatment offense would be found guilty of a class D felony, which carries a five-year prison sentence.

The House will have to pass the amended bill again before it reaches the governor's desk.

Haley Anderson, the executive director of the Iowa Pet Alliance Foundation, called the bill "a tremendous step forward in our work to improve Iowa's companion animal cruelty laws."

In an "action alert" posted on its website Wednesday, the group said that two years of incarceration in Iowa is comparable to felony penalties in other states and that requiring mandatory prison time "will result in more justice served" for offenders, even though Iowa still would not count first offense animal torture as a felony.

Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, praised Zaun for his work on the bill and said it was time for Iowa to improve its standing after consistently being ranked one of the worst in the country on the issue.

"This is needed in my community. It’s gotten out of hand, and we need to send a signal," Bisignano said. "And it’s been very embarrassing that Iowa was 49th in the country."

The Animal Legal Defense Fund in 2019 ranked Iowa 49th in the nation on its animal protection laws, citing the fact that current Iowa law does not allow felony convictions for a first offense. The group also gave Iowa poor marks for inadequate definitions and standards of basic care and not spelling out procedures for veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse.

It also criticized Iowa's "ag gag" law, which makes it a crime for whistleblowers or undercover activists to take pictures or videos at meatpacking plants and livestock facilities. A federal judge has blocked the law until a legal challenge is resolved.

Zaun said Wednesday the bill is not intended to target Iowa's livestock industry.

"I'm always going to be very defensive of the livestock industry in the state of Iowa because agriculture is the backbone of our economy. This bill here is not intended to hurt our livestock industry," he said.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

Your subscription makes our journalism possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.