LITTLE ROCK (AP) Some legislators expressed support Wednesday for a revised bill that would make animal cruelty a felony in Arkansas, although others said the wording may be so broad the state could prosecute humane pet owners and farmers who put a suffering animal out of its misery.

Now that the proposed creation of a felony for first-time torture of a dog, cat or horse has arisen again in state political and legislative discourse, let me warn the casual observer.

The three kittens were reportedly found with their heads crushed. Two were found hanging from their legs and one from the neck by twine over a local resident's garden. "To kill defenseless animals in a deliberate and vicious manner is especially repulsive.