Animal abusers may think twice once California establishes the first felony animal abuser registry in the United States. Other states are considering to follow the example.
California is preparing to be an example for other states looking to lower the number of felony animal abusers. To this they are proposing a registry of those who have been convicted of animal abuse and were charged with a felony. The idea came from the well-known and widely used, sex offender registries and databases.
The purpose of the proposed registry is to alert communities, law enforcement and pet adoption agencies that animal abusers are in the area. The information would be made public with names, addresses and other information pertaining to the person.
Liza Franzetta of Animal Legal Defense Fund has this to say in an interview with
Fox News:
In part, it's an attempt to give law enforcement a heads up when people like this are in their communities, so they can cut off problems at the pass.
The cost of the program is estimated between $500,000 and $1 Million to set up and make functional. The annual cost to maintain it is thought to be around $65,000. Most people are asking where the money is coming from. As with many good legal ideas, the tax payers, however, this bill is taking a different approach. Pet food would go up a few cents a pound and animal abusers would have to pay more harsh fines.
As will all politics, there are those that appose the idea because of taxes. Some are staying that it "unfairly" taxes pet owners. Not all pet owners are bad people or cruel to animals so not everyone should have to pay into the animal abuser registry.
Kassandra Garcia