A state lawmaker from Western Pennsylvania wants to give the Pennsylvania Game Commission the power to revoke or deny a hunting license to someone convicted of cruelty to animals.

The proposed legislation was prompted by the investigation of two teenagers from Jefferson County’s Brookville area who appeared to torture an injured deer in a video that surfaced on social media the weekend of Nov. 30.

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, said Wednesday that he will soon introduce legislation giving the Game Commission the power to deny or revoke a hunting license to sportsmen convicted of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Animal cruelty laws in the state were updated in 2017, but the Game Commission doesn’t have the power to revoke hunting licenses because of animal cruelty, DeLuca said in a statement.

“The concept behind my legislation is simple: If you were convicted of torturing an animal, you should not be able to go out there and engage in hunting activities,” DeLuca said.

There are no state game lands in the lawmaker’s 32nd District, which includes Penn Hills, Blawnox and parts of O’Hara, Verona and Plum.

“Even if you don’t hunt, if you’ve seen that video, it’s atrocious. And it makes all the people who do hunt look bad. It casts a shadow on them,” said DeLuca, a former hunter. “But hunters and sportsmen are not that way. If someone does that with an animal, you can imagine what they would do to someone if they got into an argument.”

Outrage over what appears to be deer torture continues to grow. More than 638,000 had signed an online petition as of Wednesday afternoon that called for criminal charges to be filed in the case.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission had not filed charges or identified the suspects as of Thursday. In a Facebook post Wednesday, the commission asked for the public to be patient as the investigation continued.

“As we have stated in previous comments, we believe the actions shown in the video are reprehensible and do not represent ethical hunting practices,” the Game Commission wrote.

Mary Ann Thomas and Dillon Carr are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib. You can contact Dillon at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.

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