NORFOLK — Attorney General Mark Herring was given two paws up by the Norfolk SPCA on Friday for his work in animal law.
Herring was honored at the shelter’s 125th anniversary event for the January 2015 creation of the nation’s first Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit.
The unit, headed by animal welfare prosecutor and Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch, is made up of a small group of attorneys who assist law enforcement, prosecutors and state agencies in investigating and prosecuting cases involving the mistreatment of animals, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office.
The unit’s work also includes training police on how to interact with animals and about the way animal abuse can be indicative of other crimes, like domestic abuse.
In its first two years, the unit worked on more than 350 animal matters in Virginia, including the state and federal prosecution of a cockfighting ring in southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky.
“It’s so important that we enforce our laws on animal welfare and animal fighting because there is a strong link between crimes against animals and eventual crimes against people, as well as the associated crimes that come along with animal fighting like gambling, illegal drugs and alcohol, assaults and weapons crimes,” Herring wrote in the release.
