Starting in November, convicted animal abusers in the county that includes Tampa, Fla., will be easier to identify. Their names, photos and addresses will be published on a county-run website that is publicly searchable and similar to the online sex offender registries that have proliferated since the 1990s.
The animal abuser registry, passed recently week by commissioners in Hillsborough County, is aimed at preventing people who have harmed animals from doing it again. Retailers and shelters will be required to have prospective pet adopters or purchasers sign an affidavit saying they’re not on the registry. Regular people seeking pet-sitters or new homes for their animals will be able to vet candidates. Law enforcement officials will be able to keep tabs on offenders’ whereabouts.
The county is the latest in growing group of U.S. jurisdictions to adopt such registries. A handful of New York counties have them, as does New York City, though that one isn’t accessible to the public. Cook County, Ill., whose county seat is Chicago, recently decided to create one. Tennessee launched the first statewide registry in January.
The registries are part of widening efforts in the U.S. to punish and track animal abusers, who, research has shown, commit violence against people at higher than normal rates. All 50 states now have felony provisions for the gravest crimes against animals, though many offenses are considered misdemeanors. The FBI has added animal cruelty to its list of Class A felonies, and this year began collecting data on it the way it does for other offenses, including homicide.
