New York Animal Abusers Beware: You're Going On a Public Watch List

NEW YORK (Oct. 14) -- Those convicted of abusing animals in one New York county will soon be placed on a publicly visible watch list akin to those kept for sex offenders, in an effort that legislators hope to see expand nationwide.

It's the first-ever registry to track animal abusers and those convicted of cruelty to animals and was unanimously approved this week by Suffolk County officials. The largely suburban Long Island county is home to 1.5 million people.

The law will likely take effect within a few months, and several other states are already considering similar legislation.

Convicts will be required to sign up for the registry and will pay a $50 annual fee for the watch list's upkeep. Their name, aliases, addresses and head shots will be publicly accessible online. To date, only one such database exists, pet-abuse.com, and it's limited due to the lack of mandatory data posting, TheHorse.com notes.

As such, the new measure is being cheered by animal rights activists.

"We take care of our animals and love our animals the way you do your children," Cathy Mulnard, founder of a Suffolk County animal rescue center, told The Associated Press. "We need to protect every animal that's out there because they don't make the decisions in their life; human beings do."

The county is also considering a logical next step in legislation: a law that prevents those registered from adopting or purchasing animals at pet stores and shelters.

And although animal welfare advocates are celebrating the registry for its potential to protect vulnerable creatures, legislators say the registry might also prevent domestic violence or other violent crimes against humans.

"Most serial killers began as animal abusers," Roy Gross, with the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told the North Shore Sun. "It's a known fact: People who hurt animals hurt people too."

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