A first of its kind, the New York senate just passed a bill that not only will require convicted animal abusers to register as such in New York (just like registered sex offenders), but also will require them to undergo psychiatric evaluation. As many are aware, animal abuse/torture is a gateway behavior to human abuse/murder.
The bill was inspired by Buster's Law, a case about a cat named Buster that was set on fire after being soaked in gasoline. The landmark case made animal cruelty in the state a felony offense.
New York Senator Greg Ball (R-Patterson) said that animal abusers are the worst kinds of people in our society whose behavior towards animals is a measuring stick by which to expect how they would treat people. Further, he shared that such violence cannot and will not be tolerated.
Three cheers for this guy!
The proposed registry will be accessible by the public in order that those involved in selling pets or hosting animal adoptions can look up names of potential pet parents to see if their names appear on the list.
The first step in the process is complete. Now the bill must go before the state's assembly for a vote. The bill's representative in assembly will be Rep. Jim Tedisco (R-Glenville).
The success of such a law will be a shining example for the other 49 states that will hopefully follow suit. Cross fingers and toes for the animal abuse registry.
source here
[personally, as someone who works for a rescue, i like this idea. what do the rest of you think?]
ETA: hey mods, could we get a TW for animal abuse tag, please? i added it to my cut line but it would be a good tag too. thx!
The bill was inspired by Buster's Law, a case about a cat named Buster that was set on fire after being soaked in gasoline. The landmark case made animal cruelty in the state a felony offense.
New York Senator Greg Ball (R-Patterson) said that animal abusers are the worst kinds of people in our society whose behavior towards animals is a measuring stick by which to expect how they would treat people. Further, he shared that such violence cannot and will not be tolerated.
Three cheers for this guy!
The proposed registry will be accessible by the public in order that those involved in selling pets or hosting animal adoptions can look up names of potential pet parents to see if their names appear on the list.
The first step in the process is complete. Now the bill must go before the state's assembly for a vote. The bill's representative in assembly will be Rep. Jim Tedisco (R-Glenville).
The success of such a law will be a shining example for the other 49 states that will hopefully follow suit. Cross fingers and toes for the animal abuse registry.
source here
[personally, as someone who works for a rescue, i like this idea. what do the rest of you think?]
ETA: hey mods, could we get a TW for animal abuse tag, please? i added it to my cut line but it would be a good tag too. thx!
Yeah... I don't see a downside to this. Especially if it will mean that the person convicted will be barred from future pet ownership (which, I don't know if is already a thing or not? It should be).
It's overdue. It's no secret that animal abuse is tied in with violence and other forms of abuse.
Edited at 2013-06-26 04:25 pm (UTC)
DAMN.
they need that here.
So yeah, great idea for animals, but in other countries they first need to do this for sex offenders!
Too bad it won't include companies who do factory farming and treat animals horribly. (And aren't corporations people too?)
Kitteh!
I am a little unnerved that we really need to discussion of animal abuse being a gateway to human abuse. In my mind, animal abuse is sufficiently evil all by itself, regardless of whether abusive people go on to be abusive to other people as well.
It's only a matter of time before she escalates. And then, it'll be "OMG SHE WAS SO NICE NO ONE EVER SAW IT COMING!!!!".
I'm so, so, sorry about your poor kitty. *hugs*