Nevada bill would classify animal abuse as a violent crime

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Jason Brown is a convicted dog killer. His acts are known as one of the cruelest and most heinous in Nevada.

“When he was asked are you satisfied with just hurting animals his answer was for now,” said Gina Greisen.

His actions have spurred a bill AB 159 or the Jason Brown bill in the state to make people who commit crimes towards animals not eligible for early release.

“Even the judge that sentenced him he’s the one that threw the book saying this is the worst of the worst,” said Greisen.

Typically, hurting or killing an animal in Nevada will land you in prison for one to four years.

If you hurt or kill an animal for intimidation, it’s typically a 2-to-5-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.

“Willful and malicious cruelty to animals is a felony in Nevada it’s a D felony if you hurt an animal, it’s a C felony if you intimidate, terrorize it’s already a felony,” said Greison.

In 2015 he was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the severity of his crime and although he was classified as a violent offender since it was against animals and not humans he was immediately eligible for early release.

“That’s why he was serving that much time a lot of people were upset under our law, animal crimes are just nonviolent property crimes that’s what this fixes,” said Greison.

Ahead of his parole hearing in April of 2022 more than 2,500 letters were sent to the board opposing his release.

“We inundated the parole board with letters, we created a campaign we reached out to the media and alerted basically the community saying this is what’s happening and saying you need to write a letter to the parole board which they did,” said Greisen.

Among the many supporters of this is the Nevada ASPCA,

They said, “There is so much research to support that intentional cruelty to animals is a precursor for violence against humans. By keeping animal abusers off the streets, we are protecting our families as well.”

The Humane Society of the United States is a big supporter of this bill. They sent us this statement:

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