ABILENE, Kan. (AP) - Warren City Council is being asked to put some teeth into an ordinance designed to keep people from dumping their pets.

Included on Wednesday’s council agenda is a measure that would replace the existing two-sentence ordinance with a more extensive law that more clearly defines animal abandonment and increases the seriousness of the crime from a second-degree misdemeanor for the first offense, to a first-degree misdemeanor.

The proposed measure defines abandonment as leaving an animal somewhere other than the owner’s home for longer than thirty minutes without providing for the animal’s continued care.

If the council approves the measure, it will take effect immediately.