A Registry For Offenders Of Animal Cruelty Laws
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Both California and now Louisiana are considering animal abuse registries, which would keep track of persons convicted of animal abuse and would deny those persons the ability to buy or adopt some future animals.
California:
state Sen. Dean Florez (D) announced a bill for a statewide registry in California. If passed it would create the nation’s first criminal registry for animal abusers.Written with the aid of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the proposed bill would require any person convicted of a felony involving animal cruelty to register with the police and provide an array of personal information along with a current photograph, much like sex offenders. The information, along with the registrants’ specific offense, would then be posted online, much like Petabuse.com, which offers limited listings. (source: LA Times)
Louisiana:
Persons convicted of serious crimes against animals will have to register with police for a 10-year period or face jail time if they fail to do so, if a New Orleans House member has his way.
Democratic Rep. Walker Hines has filed House Bill 201 which would require persons convicted of aggravated animal cruelty, dogfighting, cockfighting, hog and canine fighting, or the “sport killing of zoo or circus animals” to register for 10 years with the local police department and the parish sheriff. (source: NOLA.com)
People who abuse animals are more likely to escalate and abuse humans too. That’s a good enouh reason to keep an eye on animal abusers, but something strikes me a bit ironic:
They’d still be allowed to support the most rampant form of animal cruelty, the one that harms the most animals, the one that also damages the environment, and the one that poses a public health threat by spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria: factory farming. They’d do that with every purchase of a hamburger, every meal of chicken, and every glass of milk.
But I suppose a registry for offenders of the few animal cruelty laws in existence is a step in the right direction.
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