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Eleven U.S. states have pending animal abuse registry legislation:
Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the Columbine High School shooters are among the infamous criminals who had a history of hurting animals before they went on to target humans, a tendency that's part of what's behind a movement to create public online registries of known animal abusers.
New York is among 11 states with animal abuse registry bills pending in their legislatures, following Tennessee, which started its in 2016 along with a growing number of municipalities in recent years, including New York City, and the counties that include Chicago and Tampa, Florida.
"Animal abuse is a bridge crime," said the sponsor of New York's bill, Republican state Sen. Jim Tedisco, who noted that Nikolas Cruz, accused of killing 17 people in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting on Feb. 14, reportedly also had a history of shooting small animals.
While the main goal of collecting names of convicted animal abusers is to prevent them from being able to adopt or purchase other animals, registry backers say such lists could also be a way to raise red flags about people who may commit other violent crimes ranging from domestic violence to mass shootings. But some animal welfare advocates, mostly notably the ASPCA, question how effective they can really be.
[Ed's Comment - Original link unreliable, so I have added additional links]
Additional Sources:
- http://www.vmdtoday.com/news/animal-abuser-registry-legislation-sought-stalled
- https://www.navs.org/state-animal-abuser-registries-proposed-2018/
- http://www.ladbible.com/news/animals-news-us-states-and-counties-are-registering-animal-abuse-like-sex-offences-20180218
- https://nhes.org/animal-abuser-registries/
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 05 2018, @10:37PM
David Huckabee can rot in hell but such examples do not make a registry good. Kids do stupid and sometimes evil shit, if they can get past that then I don't think they should be stigmatized the rest of their life by a quick registry search. Same thing for felons, once they serve their time I don't think they should be forced to tell people about their mistakes or be barred from voting. You know how to guarantee recidivism? Stigmatize someone for life so that it is near impossible for them to succeed in society.
I said in another comment, case workers are where the focus should be made but emotional appeals have made it impossible to apply reason when a child or animal is hurt. If you don't agree to the most insane reprisals you are labeled an uncaring monster!