Jennifer McClellan, State Delegate in Richmond(D), stated "I do not now, nor have I ever, owned a cat". She said that the Virgina law is unfair. Stealing a cat is a misdemeanor, punishable by as much as a year in jail however, stealing a dog can get you as many as 10 years.

McClellan told the House Courts of Justice "All I'm trying to do is have the law reflect that if you steal a dog or steal a cat, the punishment should be the same."

The bill is informally called "Ernies Law" after the kitten whose situation brought this bill about and into the publics eyes.

Ernie was abducted from a Richmond SPCA last summer. Two men asked to look at the kitten. One man put the kitten under his shirt and walked out. An alert staffer got their license plate number and the men where tracked down. The SPCA did press charges however, after the defendant failed to appear at his arraignment, the prosecutor decided the misdemeanor was not worth pursuing.

Hence why this bill came about. Ernie was recovered.