Tallahassee, Fla. (WTXL)--The City of Tallahassee is launching a campaign to end animal abuse by teaching the community about responsible pet ownership and how to recognize and report signs of animal cruelty.
The #loveourpets campaign is hoping to get 10,000 people to take a pledge showing you are a loving pet owner by the end of the month.
City leaders say this community support, paired with the formation of a task force made up of state and local government agencies are great first steps to stop animal abuse.
"We need people to report things when they see them. Recently we had a person punch a pitbull puppy in the face, it was a horrible, horrible incident. But the only silver lining to that was we had a citizen saw it and reported it. We were able to make an arrest and I worked", says Tallahassee City Commissioner Scott Maddox.
In addition to these efforts, the city says the Tallahassee Police Department has started cross-training officers to provide extra eyes in the community.
City employees that work in the field will also receive training on how to identify and report animal abuse
