I happened across this item from the Kansas City Star, the newspaper I still browse through online every now and then.

Kansas Bills Would Make Animal Abusers Felons

Even though I no longer live in the midwest, I do keep up on certain issues, animal cruelty being one of them. The article points to a couple of bills being put to the Senate. One seems decent enough, the other is just too weak, in my opinion. So for the record I'm urging everyone living in Missouri and Kansas to vote yes on SB 408. Do it for your pets... do it for your neighbor's pets... do it for the strays you might see around your neighborhood, do it for those you don't see. Help impose stiffer penalties for animal abusers.

Looks like this is getting attention from a lot of organizations