Republican Ohio State Senator Al Cutrona has introduced legislation that would increase penalties in animal cruelty cases in Ohio.

Cutrona tells 21 News he's seeing increases in animal cruelty cases not just in the Mahoning Valley, but the State of Ohio as a whole. In fact, arrest warrants have just been issued in an animal cruelty case in Warren on Thursday.

As it stands, animal cruelty offenses in Ohio are often considered either misdemeanors in the second degree or misdemeanors in the first degree. Cutrona says this legislation would increase those offenses to felonies in the fifth degree and third degree respectively.

Cutrona says the penalties for these offenses could range from one-and-a-half to three years in prison depending on the severity. Following the prison sentence, the offender would not be allowed to own a pet for three years.

Cutrona says he hopes to begin talks about getting this legislation passed soon.