What's the punishment for dog abuse?

I deal with actions such as this all the time. I volunteer as an animal abuse investigator. Unfortunately, the girls would just receive a fine and maybe court ordered counseling… I have my doubts that animal services would have arrived so quickly and without the police. Depending on the area, animal control can’t give tickets or make arrests, they are responsible for the animals. The would file a cruelty report for investigation but not be able to arrest the girls. There was something that happened much like this in my town recently. 5 children found a hurt dog (had been hit by a car) in some bushes. An adult walking by saw them kicking the bushes and went to investigate. The dog was dead by then. The police were called and the children were released to their parents. They appeared in court but were let off because their attorney argued that the dog was injured already and they did a “good service” by putting him out of his misery. I want to add that if you read case files on serial killers ALL started by abusing animals. That is not saying that all abusers will grow up to become serial killers but it does make you wonder what type of child abuses an animal and what they grow to become.